IT LOOKS like last Saturday’s top-of-the-table match at the Iloilo Sports Complex between host Kaya FC Iloilo and Ceres Negros FC of the Philippine Football League or PFL had the makings of, if not already, Philippine football’s version of El Clásico.
For the uninitiated, from that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
El Clásico is the name given in football to any match between fierce rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Originally it referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship but nowadays the term has been generalized and tends to include every single match between the two clubs: UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, etc. Other than the UEFA Champions League Final, it is considered one of the biggest club football games in the world, and is among the most viewed annual sporting events. The match is known for its intensity.
The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and they are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed as representing Catalan nationalism.
The rivalry is regarded as one of the biggest in world sport. The two clubs are among the richest and most successful football clubs in the world, too. In 2014 Forbes ranked them the world’s two most valuable sports teams. Both clubs have a global fanbase; they are the world’s two most followed sports teams on social media.
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El Clásico indeed. All the basic ingredients were present during last Saturday’s PFL football match at the Iloilo Sports Complex i.e. loud animated fans, fierce rivalry between the two football clubs representing cities with a history of rivalry, and players with an intense never-say-die attitude.
So how did the football match go?
Excerpts from the June 10 issue of Panay News:
Kaya draws with Ceres
SHIRMAR Felongco came up with an equalizing goal as Kaya Iloilo caught up with rival Ceres Negros for a 1-1 draw in the 2018 Philippines Football League on Saturday at the Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City.
Trailing 0-1 after a second half conversion by Ceres’ Mike Ott, Kaya came up with a quick response from Ilonggo Felongco with five minutes left in the match to salvage a point in the standings.
Kaya is stuck on second place with 23 points on seven wins, two draws and three losses while Ceres, the defending champion, remains on top with 29 points on nine wins, two draws and a loss.
Both teams had decent attempts in the first half, with Ceres getting near goals from Stephan Schrock and Kaya having Felongco, Jovin Bedic and Marwin Angeles trying to score.
Ceres had chances to snatch the lead in the second half, including one from Schrock – he made a free kick from inside the box – but this failed to materialize. He later had another free kick but this was defended by Kaya’s Ref Cuaresma.
The Busmen finally scored in the 84th minute on a tap-in by Ott but Kaya answered a minute later when Felongco eluded the defense of Ceres’ goalkeeper Toni Doblas.
So the match ended in a 1- 1 draw. The results, though, did not paint the real picture of the game.
The game was intense and very physical to say the least. The atmosphere in the stadium was loud, animated with both sides bringing their own drums, and the drummers trying to drown each other out with continuous drumming.
The almost 2,000 (a record attendance for a local football derby) loud screaming fans kept the game very much alive and that intensity energized the players on the pitch and made the game exciting till the final whistle.
There were a few sidelights that were also intense off the pitch. Ceres FC’s trainer, an expat, was ordered off the pitch and sent to the dressing room for unruly behavior to the point of shouting invectives at the referee.
The Ceres trainer was escorted by security people to the dressing room amidst boos from the partisan Kaya FC fans.
As the game was quite intense and very physical with hard fouls, a red card resulted in the sending off of a Ceres player.
Kaya FC Iloilo was playing undermanned with their top scorer and two other imports unable to play due to injury, and suspensions faced an all-star Ceres FC bannered by several Azkals or current members of the National Football team.
It was grit and determination characterized by a stifling physical defense that kept the stars of Ceres FC at bay inspired by that attitude not to let Iloilo down and disappoint the loyal fans that trooped to the Iloilo Sports Complex to support the home team.
At the end of the day perhaps that draw was the best result keeping the rivalry alive just imagine what will happen when Kaya FC Iloilo host Ceres Negros FC for the Philippine Football League Championship at the Iloilo Sports Complex.
El Clásico indeed, just another day in the sibling rivalry between the two premier Ilonggo speaking cities of Western Visayas: Iloilo and Bacolod. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
