The Philippines will open its bid in the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)-Frenz U-15 ASEAN Champions Trophy 2013 today at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The Philippines, to be represented by Global FC U15, will go up against the visiting Frenz Malaysia B starting at 3 p.m.
This international tournament is a new competition conceptualized by the FAM and the Frenz United Football Academy of Pahang, Malaysia. It will be played in a home-and-away format and will end in September.
It is open to clubs who are members of the national football association (NFA) such as the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), which in turn must be affiliated with either the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) or the Asean Football Federation (AFF).
Although this is a club competition, most of the participating teams are manned by members of their national squad.
The Philippine team will be manned mostly by members of the Little Azkals, formerly national U-14, the most successful youth team in recent Philippine football history with top finishes in 2011 and 2012 AFC U14 Football Festival in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
The team, previously coached by Oliver “BingBing” Colina and managed by Richard Montayre, also notched a third-place finish last year in the Japan-East Asean Football Exchange Programme U-14 Youth Football Festival held at the J-Green Sakai in Osaka, Japan.
They trained in Palermo, Italy last year hosted by A.S.D SportVillage Tommaso Natale Scuola Calcio Giacomo Tedesco with the help of the former Cebu Football Association board member Rachel Genco.
Participating teams in this tournament will be divided into Groups A and B.
The Global FC U15 is grouped in B alongside Frenz Indonesia, Myanmar Mandalay Academy, Lao Toyota Academy, Brunei U-15, and Frenz Malaysia B.
Group A has Frenz Malaysia A, Singapore NFA, Vietnam PVF Academy, Phnom Penh Crown Academy, Thailand Chonburi Academy, Timor Leste U-15s.
Each team is asked for a lineup of 40 for the duration of the tournament while a lineup of 20 is a must for every game. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON