Just in his first year, Javier Gayoso has given fans of the Ateneo men’s football team a reason to be happy for the years to come. The lanky freshman forward earned joint best striker honors in this season’s UAAP men’s football tournament and also played a big role in putting Ateneo back to the final for the first time in three years.
Although a defeat in the final to UP is a dent to what turned out to be a glamorous season for Gayoso, the Blue Eagles’ top goalscorer felt that the team punched above their weight in Season 78. “I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. We didn’t really expect too much like to be in the finals,” said the rookie. Losing 4-1 in the finals was by no means the best way to end the campaign, yet Gayoso, who scored 11 goals in 16 games, has shown maturity by absorbing everything he can along the way.
“I think there’s more to see for Jarvey Gayoso. There are a lot of lessons that I’ve learned from playing the finals and I think that’s the biggest part I could take from it, from the experience of losing and from the experience of trying to get back from a loss. I think I’d be able to use it in my coming years as a football player and it’s just a big experience for me and it’s really a nice way to start my career” the former Blue Eaglet standout stated. Among those things is coping with immense pressure. Even before playing for the college team, he was highly touted to become one of Ateneo’s star players and their poor start to Season 78 just made it more suffocating for the young lad.
Admittedly, Gayoso felt overwhelmed to the point that the expectations of a proud community got the better of him. Looking back, the upcoming sophomore attributed his eventual rise to his teammates’ trust and support. “My teammates were just telling me to relax and play my game because they will always be there. At the end of the day, it [hype] is just killing myself and my passion for the game so I should just stay focused and always improve,” he shared.
For such a highly-rated player, Gayoso unsurprisingly stressed the importance of striving for improvement. Despite having a remarkable season debut, the Atenean isn’t keen to rest on his laurels at all. “I’m disappointed in my performance. I’m disappointed with the way that I played. Well I guess I’m always like that. I always find problems despite the win in a game I’d still always focus on the wrong things that I’ve done so that I could use it to improve myself.” He also downplayed the achievement he shares with NU striker Paolo Salenga, who managed to score the same number of goals as him at 11.
“That [Best Striker Award] was just a blessing. I’m not really focused on getting the awards because I was just trying to defy every expectation of the team and I just wanted to be a big help to my team in getting to the finals. It was never really in my mindset to get the individual awards but I was to blessed to received one,” Gayoso declared. Individual awards may actually be secondary for him as heartbreak in the final definitely spurs him to push the Blue Eagles to reach greater heights in Season 79.
They actually stand a good chance of making it back to the final with only the ever-animated captain Mikko Mabanag the certain omission in next year’s lineup. Pretty much with the same people, Gayoso wishes them to respond well in order to return stronger come next season. Asked what it would take for them to do just that, he replied, “I think it’s just showing the heart and having the heart to play. We can’t let the experience of being in the finals make us complacent in playing any way less than the next round. I believe the experience of losing should be taken into a positive mindset in getting better and fighting for that goal.”
Driven to succeed, Gayoso personifies his team quite well. Talented, determined, and still young like him the Blue Eagles have what it takes to go all the way in the immediate future. As to when, it’s hard to tell, but if Gayoso and the Blue Eagles keep on putting the work, it may come sooner than they expected.
