RIZAL-SMART San Beda pulled out all stops to beat Teknika FC, 2-0, but fell short of wresting the first Philippine Football Federation (PFF)-Smart Club championship in front of an animated crowd at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on Monday night.
Back after serving one-game suspensions each, Phil and James Younghusband scored a goal each in the 13th and 72nd minutes, respectively, for the Rizal booters, who missed a lot more scoring chances in trying to overhaul their rivals in the second leg of the championship series.
Thanks to its 3-0 triumph in the opening leg on Saturday on the same pitch, Teknika clinched the title with a 3-2 goal aggregate.
“We expected San Beda to go all out to win, and had it been given a little more time, the outcome of this series may have been different,” said Teknika coach Frank Muescan. “They were worthy finals opponents.”
“Our game plan was not to concede more than two goals and we were able to do that despite the return of the Younghusbands. We made some defensive adjustments in the second half and it also helped us a lot,” Muescan added.
“I have to hand it to coach Frank. He really did his homework against us,” said losing coach Aris Caslib. “We had our chances but as you saw we couldn’t convert our opportunities because of the lack of finishing.”
James Younghusband also saluted Teknika by saying “they played a good game and are deserving of the title.”
PFF president Mariano Araneta Jr. lauded both squads for putting up a thrilling finale.
“Hopefully, both San Beda and Teknika have set a standard that will be the yardstick of succeeding PFF-Smart Club Championships,” added Araneta, who led the awarding ceremony together with Smart Sports Executive Epok Quimpo.
The champion team bagged P100,000. Teknika striker Izzeldin Elhabbib of Sudan was named Most Valuable Player.
“The concluded PFF-Smart Club Championshp shows Smart’s successful partnership with the PFF that ended with the best club teams in the land disputing the title in a thrilling series,” Quimpo said. “Teknika was the best club in the [NCR] region, now it is the best in the nation.”
Phil fueled San Beda’s bid of turning things around by scoring early in the first, slotting in the icebreaker through two defenders in front of the goal after a long pass from James.
Caslib’s charges had several clear tries in the first 45 minutes, but Paul Concepcion typified their lack of a finishing touch when his shot from point-blank range was saved by Teknika goalie Kenneth Dolloso, who managed to keep a clean sheet despite San Beda’s offensive onslaught.
James’s marker came from a direct free kick from the left wing on the fringe of the penalty area that curled over Teknika’s defensive wall and into the net.
In Photo: Phil Younghusband returns to the action but his team could not overhaul their opponents’ commanding lead.
