Limpag: UFL puts up Visayas Division

By Mike T. Limpag
Fair Play
Sunday, September 18, 2011

YEP, the United Football League (UFL) loves the Visayas fans so much they decided to put up a Visayas Division for the UFL Cup.

It’s either that or the football gods have quite a sense of humor.


I mean, how would you explain the draw for the UFL Cup? Of the four Visayas teams in the 28-team field, all of them got picked, by four different folks, to be in one four-team bracket in Group C?

Global FC (Dan Palami of Leyte), Pachanga (which will have Bacolod players and will be led by Norman Fegidero), Stallions FC (of Nonong Araneta of Iloilo) got picked one after the other in Group C?

What’s the probability of that happening? It’s so rare that I’m going to look for number combinations in the teams and the UFL draw for a lottery entry. Or I could just ask those four guys to pick me six numbers.

Jaron Genota, who must have a direct line to the football gods, tweeted after the third team was picked, “Wow! Group of Death, Group C: Global, Pachanga and Stallions.

Isa pang malakas para mas masaya!”

And, like I said, because the football gods have a sick sense of humor, that isa-pang-malakas para-mas-masaya happened to be UFL debutant Cebu Queen City United, which, just a week ago was busy identifying its coaching staff and two weeks ago, had no idea it was joining the UFL.

And Jaron is to blame. Maybe the PFF should bring him when AFC holds the draw for the Challenge Cup? That way, he can have all the tough teams in one draw and put the Philippines in an easier group.

So CQCU will be up against the three teams that made the Smart Club Championships
semis in its UFL Cup debut.

“You wanted a UFL Southern Division? You got it!” Kaya team owner Santi Araneta, the man who convinced Queen City to join the league, tweeted.

And of course, since it’s a special Visayas Division in the UFL Cup, Santi said the games will be televised and the Iloilo Stallions vs. Queen City match could even serve as the opener.

But that’s not the match I’m really interested in. It’s the Global FC vs. Cebu Queen
City match that I’m really curious about because it will pit Paolo Pascual against the Cebuanos.

I told Paolo, who was a chubby second-grader the first time I interviewed him, for the first time I’d be rooting against him because of the draw, while his dad, Joel, told me that in Cebu vs. Global, “Diri ra ko sa ako anak,” but we both know that this is a
game that we’d be happy whoever wins.

And Global, being the defending champion, will go all-out against Cebu, the newbie in Group C.

How will Cebu, who, as of last Saturday was still finalizing its lineup, fare against the heavyweights? We will all find out. And, fans in Cebu can follow the games too because these will be televised.

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