Blog Posts by Sid Ventura

All eyes are on the ball in this bit of action between UST and FEU. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

University of Sto. Tomas sealed a return trip to the UAAP men's football finals by playing third-running Far Eastern University to a scoreless draw at the close of elimination round hostilities Sunday afternoon at the Ateneo High School pitch.

Needing just a draw to advance following De La Salle University's 1-0 loss to archrival Ateneo earlier in the day, the Tigers got just that as they ramped up their defensive line and repeatedly frustrated tournament leading goal scorer Jesus Joaquin Melliza.

"We played defense, and at the same time we counterattacked," said UST coach Marjo Allado. "It's a good thing FEU's shots in the first half didn't go in. Otherwise we would have had a tough time."

Trailing UST by one point in the standings heading into the match, FEU was in a must-win situation, and early on they turned to their main striker to save their season. Melliza came closest to scoring his eighth goal of the tournament in the 29^th minute, when he managed to get off a shot from close

Global's Misagh Bahadoran tries to elude Stallion's Bervic Italia. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

Drawing a little motivation from some bold words from the opposing coach, Global FC brought down Stallion Giligan's FC, 1-nil, in UFL action Saturday at the University of Makati pitch.

Izzo El-Habbib scored the lone goal of the match in the 58^th minute that proved enough to clinch the full three points for Global while dealing Stallion its first loss of the tournament.

"We were motivated by Ernie Nierras last week, when he turned on national TV and said that there's only one team that can defeat Stallion, and that's his second team," said Global coach Graeme McKinnon. "No other team is gonna beat him. So for us, that was already the motivation to win the game today and really put the pressure on. So that's what we did."

In a highly physical match that threatened to get out of control at times, Global overcame Stallion's rough play and controlled the tempo for majority of the match. McKinnon singled out his four players who flew back from the Azkals' Middle East tour the night before

Marcio Lassiter and Duke Crews battle for the ball. (Photo courtesy of the PBA)

In the days leading up to their first game of the Commissioner's Cup, the Powerade Tigers had to go through a whole lot of drama off the court. It was no surprise, therefore, that they won this game in dramatic fashion.

With a looming sale to San Miguel Corporation, an impending trade that threatens to break up their young core, and — as if to distract them even further - the sudden resignation of their governor J.B. Baylon serving as an emotional backdrop, the Tigers overcame a listless first half and a 17-point deficit to stun the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 122-120, at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Nearly a month to the day that the Tigers ousted the Elastopainters in the very same venue in Game 7 of their Philippine Cup semifinal series, the two teams offered up another classic that went down to the wire. And in what has become a familiar refrain in many of Powerade's wins this season, Gary David once again hit a dagger triple to win the game in the dying seconds.

News of Baylon's

Call it a good loss. Playing without Phil and James Younghusband, the Philippine Azkals weren't expected to put up much of a challenge against the Australia U-23 side in their friendly last night in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Aussies won the match, 1-0, after dominating the first half of play, but the Azkals didn't embarrass themselves and put up a good fight in the second half, holding steady on the defensive end while also creating scoring opportunities on the other side.

The Olyroos, as the Australian U-23 team is known, went ahead in the 11^th minute courtesy of a header by Jason Hoffman following a cross from Aziz Behich. Azkals defender Luis Guirado actually tried to clear the cross via a header, but his effort was weak and the ball bounced straight to an unmarked Hoffman. Azkals keeper Neil Etheridge appeared to hesitate, as if waiting for an offside call since Aussie Oliver Bozanic was lurking behind him beside the post. But the assistant referee kept his flag down, and

Meralco's Gabby Espinas foils Petron's Alex Cabagnot's drive. (Photo courtesy of the PBA)

The Petron Blaze Boosters sank to their worst defeat of the season last night, a 105-83 demolition at the hands of the Meralco Bolts in a game where they trailed by as many as 28 points and hardly played any defense. That's now five straight losses for the team this season, counting the three straight they lost to Talk 'N Text in the Philippine Cup semis where they squandered a 3-1 lead.

Like in their conference opener against Barangay Ginebra last Sunday, the Blaze Boosters found themselves trailing in this game by double digits at the half. But unlike last Sunday, when Nick Fazekas led a spirited comeback that tied the game with 3.9 seconds left, this time around Petron didn't even bother staging a rally as the lead never dipped below double digits in the second half. It was 78-62 after three periods and the Blaze Boosters could get no closer than 14 points in the fourth.

Petron's transition defense was terrible all night long. I've seen grade school PE classes play better defense.

The Maroons are now through to the football finals. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

University of the Philippines bucked the absence of ace striker Jinggoy Valmayor to stretch its second-round winning streak to four games with a clinical 2-nil win over first-round leader University of Sto. Tomas earlier today at the Ateneo High School pitch.

Ghanaian Nii Aryee Ayi scored both goals that clinched a finals berth and twice-to-beat advantage for the defending champion Maroons, who have now won four straight games after four straight draws in the first round.

Ayi first struck in the 14^th minute with a one-touch from the middle of the penalty box that just caught the inside of the post and bounced in. He doubled the lead in the 49^th with a vicious, rocket-like volley from near the edge of the box that found the back of the net, giving him his fourth goal of the tournament.

With 19 points on a 5-4-0 win-draw-loss record and only one game left to play, UP is safely ahead of its closest pursuer UST, which got stuck at 15 points. The Maroons thus clinched the first finals slot

PBA Commissioner Chito Salud. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Salud has finally spoken up on an issue that's been making the PBA rounds the past couple of weeks: the supposed sale of the Powerade franchise back to the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) group.

In a statement released to the media, Salud said William Schultz, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. which owns Powerade, stated through a letter addressed to the PBA Board of Governors that "its franchise has not been sold and that the ownership, operation and management of the Powerade team remain intact under CCBPI control."

Schultz went on to reassure Salud that CCBPI "will follow the proper process should it decide to consummate the sale of its franchise, namely by first notifying and requesting approval for a sale from the PBA Board of Governors."

At the same time, though, the CCBPI CEO admitted that they recently met with SMC "conformably to a right of first refusal to buy the basketball team granted to SMC at the

This free kick by Nii Aryee Ayi in the second half led to UP's fourth goal of the match. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

After a slow start in the first round, defending champion University of the Philippines appears to have cranked it up several notches in the second round, winning its third straight match —an emphatic 4-0 thrashing of La Salle — yesterday to cling on to the overall lead in the UAAP men's football tournament at the rain-soaked Ateneo High School pitch.

With the win, the Maroons sit atop the standings with 16 points with two games left, just a point ahead of University of Sto. Tomas, which blanked Ateneo, 2-0, to stay within striking distance of the top spot and the coveted twice-to-beat advantage that goes with it. The two sides tangle this Wednesday at 10AM in a crucial match that will help determine the top seed.

A UP-UST final isn't a done deal yet, though, as Far Eastern University kept its finals bid a live with a 1-nil win over University of the East to move up to 11 points. The Tamaraws collide with the Blue Eagles on Wednesday, before they wrap up their campaign against the