Now in orange and white, Curt Dizon offers his insights on playing for another title contender with Loyola Meralco Sparks, who are the current UFL Cup title holders and last year’s second best team in the league.
Dizon was supposed to play for the Sparks in the earlier part of the year. In February, the 21-year-old attack-minded player replaced Matthew Hartmann, who was reunited with his brother Mark by going the other way to Global FC. Due to the transfer window shut at that time though, the players stayed with their teams until the start of the cup.
So far, Dizon has only played three games for the Sparks. In that span of time, the ex-Global man already had a major role in scoring and finding teammates who could do the scoring for Loyola. Adjusting to the Sparks brand of football may be a process that will take some time but it seems the man born and raised in England got it figured out. “Everyone’s from England, so it just reminded me of back home. I knew a couple of people before I came to the club. They made it easier for me to settle,” Dizon said. Notable Sparks with English heritage are the Younghusband brothers, Simon Greatwich and Bradley Grayson among others.
After his second game, which was a 7-0 win over Mendiola FC 1991, he found the net twice to underline an impressive performance under immense heat. “It’s really hard there today, but I felt like I eased myself into the game and was lucky enough to take my chances,” the former Crystal Palace Academy player reckoned.
Currently, Loyola is on the hunt for two more trophies after winning the PFF-Smart National Football Championship earlier this year. Back then though, the new boy in Loyola was still with Global, who finished runners-up to the Sparks. In the UFL Cup, Dizon’s new club is poised to advance into the knockout stages. They also find themselves in fifth place but just five points behind league leaders Ceres-La Salle FC. When asked about the Sparks’ chances of winning a possible treble, Dizon stated optimism. “I think we’ve got the team to win it. It’s just about us performing in the day. I think we have more than enough to win both the cup and the league,” he assessed.
By the looks of it, Dizon will have an important role in Loyola’s pursuit for what could be the first treble in the history of Philippines club football. An experienced player at such a young age, the Londoner relishes to win trophies again with his new teammates.
