FEU, ADMU books ticket to the Finals; revisits rivalry anew

Photo credits: UAAP

And then there were two. The UAAP Season 85 Men's Football Tournament Finals stage has been set with title favorites Far Eastern University Tamaraws and the defending champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles securing their finals berth with identical two-nil victories over De La Salle University Green Booters and the University of Santo Tomas Golden Booters.

The FEU Tamaraws will be relishing their chance of bringing the trophy back to Morayta after they dispatched the # 2 seed DLSU Green Booters in their matchup. Goals from Gio Pabualan and Sherwin Basindanan were enough to push the Tamaraws to their eighth appearance in the finals.

The Morayta-based booters looked set to be making it to the finals since the opening whistle with non-stop attack against the Green Booters and their fluidity in their movement made it more difficult for the Taft-based booters to match. The opening came in the 28th minute when Migs Brosoto was forced to a handball outside the box after his initial saves were bouncing off of his gloves.

Pabualan, as the designated free-kick taker for the Tamaraws, curled the ball around the wall and past the confused Brosoto to give the Tamaraws the all-important lead. They would continue to put pressure on the Green Booters in the 34th minute with Viejay Frigillano's strike from distance forcing Brosoto for another save.

Pabualan would try to get his second of the match in the 39th minute but his strike from the free-kick was saved by Brosoto. At the half, the Green Booters needed a morale boost which coach Alvin Ocampo infused before the start of the second half.

Straight from his international duties in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, Enrico Mangaoang was called upon to defend the goal for the remainder of the match and to serve as a talisman for the Taft-based Booters and it almost worked wonders for DLSU.

In the 56th minute, Julio Cruel got the opportunity for a header in the 65th minute but it was met by a great save from Jet Fabrigas. Then in the 65th minute, the Green Booters found themselves a lifeline as Khent Valenzuela was called for handball outside the box, almost the same area where Pabualan scored the opener. Mikio Umilin took the free-kick for them but was headed away by Mel Baylon.

The final 10 minutes of the match saw FEU maximizing its fitness advantage over DLSU. In the 82nd minute, Basindanan almost got a clear chance inside the box before finding Stephen Soria who couldn't hit the mark. The insurance goal would finally come three minutes later with Basindanan cutting through the defense thanks to Martini Rey's incisive pass.

A powerful strike from the super sub cemented their place in the final where they will meet Ateneo, a side that they faced in their last final appearance back in 2017.

On the other hand, the Blue Eagles showed their masterclass over the # 4 seed UST Golden Booters on their way to a comfortable two-nil victory. Kofi Agyei turned on his playoffs mode as he opened the scoring towards the end of the first half.

With both sides showing their desire to make it to the finals, the defending champions got the better of UST in the final minute of the first half with Agyei being found by Leo Maquiling from a free-kick which Agyei headed perfectly past Jose Miguel Abada.

The España-based booters thought they could get back into the match but Galen Fernandez had other ideas in the 53rd minute. After winning another set piece, Maquiling orchestrated a great goal after scraping Agyei's head from the free-kick and finding Fernandez all alone inside the box to tap in their second goal of the match.

Though they would continue to fight, UST didn't have enough left in their tank after Ateneo gave them a very difficult match. In the 75th minute, Roward Jintula tried to feed the ball inside for Jhon Azares but the Blue Eagles team captain Szymon Mercado cleared the ball out. Maquiling got the chance to close out the match with a goal in the 85th minute but his strike from inside the box was met by Abada.

With the win, the Blue Eagles now have a chance to be the most successful side in the UAAP as they will gun for their seventh title to surpass the University of the Philippines' record of six in which they are currently tied with.

Meanwhile, the FEU Tamaraws are hoping to play spoilers for the defending champions and to cap off a very inspired season as they continue to play in honor of their late teammate Kieth Absalon whose jersey always sit comfortably inside their technical box, hoping to bring guidance and inspiration to their squad.

The UAAP Season 85 Men's Football Tournament Final will take place at the historic Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on the 18th of May, 2023 at 5 PM where both FEU and Ateneo are expected to draw huge crowds to support them in another epic encounter which would definitely bring in some fireworks, drama, and action.