Austin Basconcillo headed home a late winner to propel University of the Philippines to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over University of Santo Tomas to close out the opening day of the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Football Tournament on Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Basconcillo, who missed out on last season because of an ACL injury, turned in Ramil Bation III’s assist in the 75th minute to give the Fighting Maroons a dream start in Popoy Clarino’s first match as the new head coach of the program.
“It’s good to see him back on the field,” said Clarino, who replaced four-time champion coach Anto Gonzales during the off-season.
“Last year, he got an ACL injury. It’s good to see him back. It was good to see him make lots of good contributions during the game. That’s what matters to us — everyone is contributing to the team,” the first-year head coach continued.
The Fighting Maroons suffered a setback 16 minutes into the contest when Golden Booters midfielder Andrew Ramos gave UST the lead with a tap-in.
However, come the second half, UP came to life.
Francis Tacardon scored the leveler in the 60th minute from close range, which set the stage for Basconcillo’s eventual winning goal.
“It was a good game,” said Clarino. “Of course, since it was the first game, nandiyan yung mga jitters and nervousness. What we focused on was getting those nerves out sa first game pa lang. It’s gonna be a good season. There are lots of good teams.”
UP will look to build on this win in its quest to return to the Final Four when it takes on Far Eastern University this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the same venue.
Philippine Football Federation President John Gutierrez and General Secretary Gelix Mercader were in attendance during the match.
On the other hand, UST will try to bounce back versus Adamson University this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the same pitch.
UP XI: Gonzalez (GK), Bongolan, Lobitaña, Tobias (C), Togores, Pagdanganan, Tacardon, Parpan, Donato, Lampayan, Bation.
UST XI: Abada (GK), Ramos, Escobar, Songalia, Belluga, Botavara, Selarde, Valderama, Vercide, Regis, Garcia.
