Isaac Anoh finally received a reward for his perseverance in the UAAP Season 85 Men’s Football Tournament by scoring the breakthrough goal for De La Salle University in its 2-1 victory over archrival Ateneo de Manila University, much to the delight of the green-clad fans at the UP Diliman Football Field.
Anoh has been a hardworking striker for La Salle this season, providing a physical presence upfront while the team’s other forwards, mainly Mikio Umilin and Mohammad Almohjili, work the wide areas and midfield.
“I’ve been waiting for this goal for so long. Now that the goals have opened for me, I’m going to try my best to add more goals for this tournament,” said the Ivory Coast native.
Anoh has scored before in the UAAP while wearing the green and white jersey, putting the ball at the back of the net for the Green Booters when they faced Adamson University back in Season 82. However, that campaign was eventually canceled because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and so many other student-athletes had to wait for a long time before they could get back into action.
Despite being in his second UAAP season, Anoh is already considered one of the veterans of the team. He contends that he is part of a group with strong characters to share the burden of leading it to the top.
“Actually, I won’t say I’m a leader because we’re all leaders on the field. We have been waiting for this for almost three years, and we had only a few months of preparation,” he said.
“So with the help of the coaches, we’re going to be able to achieve great things, and we’re looking for the championship this UAAP Season 85.”
Despite a slow start to the season, the Green Booters have picked themselves up and now sit in 3rd place in the standings with 10 points on the back of three wins and a draw. Anoh believes that they can go all the way to the championship if they continue to work hard and give their all.
“For the second round, we all know that’s going to be the most crucial one. We’re not giving up because that’s the most important one,” he said.
“We’re just going to give our 100-percent, even 200-percent, and I believe we are able to give 200-percent to be able to have this championship.”
