When Alyssa Ube scored in the 54th minute, she provided the winning goal that gave the University of the Philippines a 1-0 victory over De La Salle University in the UAAP Women’s Football Tournament last Saturday.
However, it came at a cost. She suffered an injury that may hamper her performance for the rest of the campaign.
“It’s the ankle because I felt it the minute I entered, it made a sound; and then the second, I tried to step on it; and then the third, I couldn’t. I decided to go out instead of wasting time,” said the fifth-year winger.
Football is a confidence game.
As a player who needs to produce goals and assists in the attacking third of the pitch, Ube needs all the belief she can muster to produce the goods for UP. Goals change everything, though, and she hopes that she will be able to build on this newfound momentum.
“Actually, I’ve been feeling down… Coach is trying to build my confidence with the team, but yeah, I think that goal will give me confidence as well as the team,” said the Rizal High School alumna.
As a leader in the UP Women’s Football Team, Ube is expected to lead by example during training sessions and matches. During the extended off-season brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, she was a member of the Philippine Women’s National Team pool.
While she did not get to represent the Filipinas during the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship, she learned valuable lessons during her time with the team. And she is trying to impart that to her teammates.
“It helped me because the ‘win the moment’ mentality of the national team, I’m trying to keep it, and I’m trying to bring it with the team here as a senior too,” said the Pasig native.
“I think it’s more of the guidance that I can give to the team. That’s what is expected of me to offer to the team, which I hope I can provide.”
UP still has a long way to go before they can make it to the finals for the first time since Season 78. Although the Fighting Maroons lead the standings with seven points behind two wins and one draw, they know that they cannot rest on their laurels.
For Ube, it is about the team improving facets of its performance and taking it one match at a time.
“I think more than the score, more than winning the game, I think our first half did not go to plan, the team’s plan. So, I hope that we build on the good things we did in this game going into the next games.”
