CAGAYAN de Oro’s Jeremiah “JB” Borlongan scored a hattrick as the Little Azkals once again showed their unbeatable team work by routing the Korean-based Chelsea FC Under 14 team, 6-1, yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in the first of their two exhibition matches.
The Philippine Under-14 football team proved that they have an unbeatable bond despite coming from different parts of the country by surprising the visiting Chelsea FC with their press to the goal and their agility on the pitch.
All of the goals in the match were scored in the first half, with Little Azkals team captain Jed Ramos Diamante of Davao starting the scoring spree with just minutes into the match. This was followed by Borlongan’s three straight goals.
Davao’s Javier Romero-Salas further stretched the Little Azkals’ lead to five while Diamante capped the junior national team’s win with his final goal in the first half.
Chelsea FC scored its lone goal in the last minute of the first half. The second half saw both teams scoreless.
With the sizable lead that the Little Azkals posted, head coach Oliver “BingBing” Colina felt confident to field all of his players in the second half to give those on the bench enough exposure.
“We dominated the first half but Chelsea was able to adjust in the second half and managed some counter attacks. We surprised them with our press and speed, it was clear that they weren’t expecting that,” Colina said.
Despite having won convincingly, Colina said more adjustments will be done today in their second match against Chelsea FC at the Turf Bonifacio Global City (BGC) at 4 p.m. since he is anticipating that the visiting team will be making their own adjustments.
“The Chelsea FC has a high-level of understanding of the game and they play physical,” Colina said. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON