THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas-Brazil Golden Booters settled for a scoreless stand off against University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) rival University of the Philippines-Peru in the 1st Philippine American Consortium for Latin American Studies (PACLAS) Copa America Football Tournament last May 16 at the UST football field.
Rodney Leyble’s attempt in the 39th minute of the first half was the closest to a goal as both teams played terrific defense.
Lady luck did not seem to be on UST’s side as it fumbled on potential goals. UP-Peru goalkeeper Christopher Datu blocked the attempt of UST-Brazil striker Randy Leyble off a cross from teammate Sonny Valenzuela five minutes into the second half. Consecutive attempts from brothers Randy and Rodney Leyble went wide while Nelson Guillermo’s try in the 65th minute was blocked by UP-Peru defender Raul Cesapilon.
A minute later, UST’s Brazilian player Marcio da Silva brought the crowd on its feet as his back flip shot missed the goal by a hairline in the 66th minute. Guillermo had a chance at scoring after breaking away in the 71st, but his shot went wide.
UST-Brazil coach Jose Marcelino Carpio said he would urge the team to be more offensive in their next assignment against Ateneo de Manila University-Argentina.
UST-Brazil now has a 0-0-2 win-loss-draw record.
Defensive start
UST-Brazil started the tournament by posting a 0-0 decision against UAAP champions University of the East-Venezuela last May 10.
UST-Brazil stepped on the gas in the early minutes with da Silva and Randy Leyble nearly scoring on their initial attempts.
UE-Venezuela answered with an attempt in the 16th minute but UST-Brazil goalkeeper Kim Valeroso stood his ground to block Venezuelan George Goncalvez’s attempt.
Two minutes later, Rodney Leyble had the chance of scoring one for UST-Brazil via a free kick, but the ball went over the goal. UST-Brazil’s Rodney Leyble, Rozano Estrabon, Aljo Clariño, and Sonny Valenzuela missed attempts as the half ended.
The start of the second half was marred by a scuffle between UST-Brazil substitute Joebert Bernabe and UE-Venezuela defender Rolly Perez. The fight started when Perez locked Bernabe on the back, causing both players to fall to the ground. Bernabe retaliated and kicked Perez, forcing the referee to draw the red card on both players. Both teams had to do with 10 players each for the remainder of the match.
The rest of the second half was no different. Goalkeepers Valeroso of UST-Brazil and Gregory Madrona of UE-Venezuela both played heads-up defense, denying attempt after attempt and keeping the game scoreless until the last second.
As the sky lightly drizzled, penalties were slapped all over the playing field. Aside from the two red cards, the referee drew a total of eight yellow cards.
For the Copa America Tournament, the teams chose, according to their school color, a Latin American country to represent. After which, they got two players from their chosen country. The other participating teams include De La Salle University-Mexico, Ateneo de Manila University-Argentina and the University of Asia and the Pacific-Chile.
