BACOLOD City – Cebu has successfully retained its crown in the 2022 AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup via a 2-1 escape over Bonifacio Global City recently at the La Provincia Polo Field in Barangay Granada here.
Conversions from Hayato Fukui and John Clyde Vituala in the opening half allowed the Cebuanos to defend the Kampeon Cup title it first captured prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
It was Fukui who broke the ice for the Cebuanos with his conversion at the 36th minute before being doubled by Vituala with his close-range hit just before the halftime intermission.
Bonifacio Global City managed to pull one back in the second half via a penalty kick by Tonaldo but they could not score a follow up as Cebu goalkeeper Leonard Tan tightened his defense the rest of the way.
Tan was later named the Best Goalkeeper for his stellar defense in their four matches in the three-day seven-a-side football tourney, while Vituala was awarded the Most Valuable Player Trophy.
The championship capped a perfect run for Cebu as they opened the competition with a 3-1 victory over Bonifacio Global City before following it up with a 9-4 drubbing of Iloilo and a 4-1 beating of Bacolod in the semifinals round.
Bonifacio Global City, on the other hand, recovered from their preliminary round loss to Cebu with a 7-5 beating of Iloilo before kicking out San Carlos City in the semifinals round, 7-0.
Kampeon Cup founder Anton del Rosario lauded the success of the tournament as it was an opportunity to develop the grassroots program and discover potential booters around the country.
“There’s a lot of talent outside of the city here which gets overlooked and we want to provide the opportunity to those talents across the country and put them on the pedestal where everybody can see them at the top level,” said del Rosario.
“That’s what the Kampeon Cup is all about being able to provide the opportunity to those players to be able to showcase that ‘hey there is a future for football in the country’,” added the former Philippine Azkal./PN
