PFF U-19 tryout set at Panaad

After getting a positive response in Metro Manila Monday, the tryout for the national Under-19 football team heads for Bacolod City tomorrow to scout for talents in Negros Occidental.

Those who will be selected to the team will have the chance to compete in the ASEAN Football Federation Youth Championship in Myanmar in September.

In Manila, more than 70 booters joined the National Capital Region leg of the national tryout at the football fields of University of Makati and Ateneo de Manila University.

The next day, more than a hundred of players trooped to Tarlac Recreation Center in San Jose, Tarlac to show off their skills in the second day of the Luzon and NCR tryout.

National Under-19 team manager Charlie Cojuangco, president of the Negros Occidental Football Association, said the good turnout at the tryout is an indication that Philippine football is back on its feet.

"The outcome is an indication that there is talent in the grassroot level of Philippine football. It's just a matter of finding the right players," Cojuangco told Manila-based reporters.

Maor Rozen, the Spanish-Uruguayan coach appointed by Cojuangco to handle the team, said talents were overflowing in Luzon and NCR alone.

When the tryouts shift to the Visayas and Mindanao, Rozen said he is expecting to have an easier time finalizing the members of the national pool.

The tryout at the Panaad Stadium will start 2:30 p.m. tomorrow and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.

On March 24 and 25, it will be Cebu’s turn to host the selection team at the Aboitiz Field.

In Mindanao, tryouts will be held at the Philips Football Field in Bukidnon at 2:30 p.m. on March 26 and 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on March 27, while Davao hosts it at the Tionko Field Bolton Riverside at 4:30 p.m. on March 28 and 29.

The national tryouts will be wrapped up at the UP Football field in Los Banos, Laguna on March 31 at 2:30 p.m.*

Visayan Daily Star