Bacolod to host Philippine Suzuki Cup quarterfinals

MANILA -- After weeks of tough elimination games, the Philippine Football Federation Suzuki Under-23 National Cup enters the quarterfinal stage with Bacolod City's Panaad Stadium hosting one of the two group stages.


Set from May 6 to 10, the 15,000-seater Panaad will be the venue for the group of Visayas' top seed Bacolod, National Capital Region-Team 2, Mindanao second placer Dipolog, and Luzon topnotcher, Masbate.


The University of the Philippines-Los Baños pitch, meanwhile, will be the site for the other group that includes host and Luzon second placer Laguna; Mindanao overall leader Davao; NCR 1, and Visayas' number two seed, Iloilo.


Four seats are up for grabs that will bring them to the semi-finals of the first major national football tournament in years.


PFF earlier hoped to find gems among the competing teams who will beef up the country's Under-23 national team that will compete in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia in November.


The current senior team has few players who are eligible to compete in arguably the Asean region's most prestigious football competition.


National team head coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami will be overseeing the Azkals' campaign in Indonesia.


Current national players seeing action in the tournament include NCR's Yannick Tuason and David Basa, and Dipolog's Jerry Barbaso.


There are also numerous players seeing action in college tourneys such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the United Football League. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)

Sun Star Bacolod