Admittedly, it has not been the best of seasons for the University of the Philippines women’s football team. Last year’s runners-up have had a roller-coaster ride so far in the current season. However, there is still one game to turn everything around.
After failing to send tournament-leaders De La Salle University to their only defeat, Tiebreaker Times caught up with Lady Maroons Team Captain Cristina Delos Reyes after a seemingly long locker-room post-game talk.
Delos Reyes confirmed this hunch. “I think technically, we’re doing better every day. But, the [in]consistency shows that [in the] first half, we’re doing well, and then after a while, whether we’re winning or losing, we’re doing worse in the second half,” she shared of what they talked about.
The skipper could not really point out whether it was a question of fitness or “puso” (character/willpower). Nevertheless, De los Reyes hopes that they can address such problem soon.
She believes that the team owe a lot to the people of who believes in them. “We’ve done everthing we can do. Mostly the spectators are helping, like our parents. Tita Pia [Cayetano] came in, she started talking to us. We also found out that all these people who are helping us.” De los Reyes also talked about their coaches, Anto Gonzales and Tin Mendoza, “Everything that the coaches have done for us, it’s all that they can do now. Now, it has to come from us.”
De los Reyes, likewise, shared their frustrations over what they see on the pitch. She said, “I can only imagine what it feels like for the spectators to watch something [like this]. You believe; you put so much effort. You put your money in it and time for their children.”
It is not too late, however.
Still with a good chance of making their second straight Final appearance, the reigning UAAP Best Midfielder bared their plans for their last game against the Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday. “What I’m hoping for and what we should be able to achieve is that we will do 100% from the start of the whistle to the end. I would not expect anything less from my team. We’ll work in the next 5 days to prepare against Ateneo to have the best game of the elimination round, hopefully,” she shared.
Now, more than ever, a perfect effort is needed from the ladies of Diliman. And Delos Reyes firmly believes it is now time to turn it up a notch.
“In order to become champions, there’s [should be] nothing less than the best,” she ended.
