By:  Andrew Fletcher (Director) Azkalroos

Azkalroos win Youth Cup in Penalty Shoot Out!

The Azkalroos Youth team has won the Western Sydney Wanderers Asian Community Youth Cup in a penalty shoot-out with traditional rivals Nepal.

The Azkalroos staff & players were thrilled to welcome Mr. Nonong Araneta, the President of the Philippines Football Federation (PFF) to the early games, meet with the players & show his appreciation of the team’s excellent form.

The team played the tournament without both regular Goal Keepers & lost two key players to injury during the contest.

John Banas, normally a full back, stood in goal in the early games, but unfortunately injured his calf & wasn’t able to continue.

Shawn Banas, our striker & previous Golden Boot winner, then became our shot stopper for the Semi Final & Final.

By the time the Penalty Shoot Out came round Shawn’s injured hand was too bad to continue & so Ben Aguilar, our centre half, picked up the gloves & stopped the shots that enabled the Azkalroos to finally achieve victory.

The team, despite being the smallest of all the competitors, showed an excellent range of football skill, passing & teamwork to succeed against considerable odds.

The good form shown at this prestigious tournament will be ideal for the group leading up to further games during February, March & the proposed Futsal tournament at the Goodwill Games in Manila during April.

Azkalroos Directors, Leigh Gunn & Andrew Fletcher congratulated the team who have performed brilliantly despite the loss of players & the unavailability of their keepers. They were particularly pleased with the team spirit & the excellent ball skills displayed throughout the contest.