Japan-Philippines clash opens Asia 7s Football Championships

MANILA, Philippines – Fireworks. Championship preview?

It’s a cracker of an opening match when the BPI AIA Asia 7s Football Championship gets underway Friday at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

Japan — as echoed by their coach Keller Costa, team president Kensuke Tokunaga and team captain Itsuki Yamada during a press conference Thursday at the Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge in Makati — vowed to go all out.

“We came here to win,” succinctly put Keller.

Up against them is the home team, led by team manager Ethan Lee. 

Team Philippines is composed of players from clubs like Maharlika Manila, United City Football Club and some from the two-time Men’s Kampeon Cup titlists Cebu — Marco Cauyong, MJ Libre, Earl Piñero, Dean Ebarle, Darryl Regala, Daniel Christian dela Fuente, Robertson Alvior, Reginold Rupert Reaso, Christian Schaffner, DJ Reyes, Edienzel Mark Velizano, James Dorego, Mark Niñolas and Eddie Alivio.

“This is match that is a test for both teams,” noted Lee of the game that kicks off at 7 p.m. at Field B. Field A features the Brunei-India match. “We just went through three months of try-outs. Hopefully, we have a team that will compete and make our country proud.”

On Japan’s part, Costa, although Brazilian by birth lives and works in Japan, said that they are banking on the growth of seven-a-side football over the past decade as strengthening their players and their skills for this much faster and intense game of football.

“We have over 200 organized teams playing seven-a-side football in Japan,” he related. “It isn’t as popular as 11-a-side football, but it is growing. It will be a good test for our skills as we also see where our neighbors are at the moment.”

A second round of elimination round matches will be played at 8:30 p.m. Brunei battles Japan at Field A while the Philippines takes on India.

“We believe in the potential of the BPI AIA Asia 7s Football Championship,” underscored Bernadette Chincuanco, head of branding and communications of AIA Philippines. “It’s not only an exciting sport, but it’s the perfect sport to help Filipinos live healthier, longer, and better lives.”

Added Mika Calixterio, partnership marketing principal of BPI AIA, “We’re very excited to be a part of 7s football and the AIA family, and we hope that this partnership will give more attention to this exciting and dynamic sport.”

Sports fans can stream the BPI AIA Asia 7s Football Championships on TapGo TV and receive a one-month free access to exclusive content.

Simply log on to https://bit/ly/AIAVitalityWomensKampeonCup and select TapGo TV All Access under subscription. Use the code TGTVAIA at the checkout. The TapGo TV streaming application is accessible for download on Play Store and the Apple Store.