MANILA – The Philippine Under-15 Men’s National Football Team unleashed a scoring barrage to demolish Curacao, 8-1, and secure back-to-back victories to close its Group F campaign in the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
John Carlo Rendon, Quito Pascual and Nathan Caligdong spearheaded the Young Filipinos’ offensive assault as the Philippines bounced back from three consecutive defeats to finish fourth in Group F with six points.
The emphatic victory followed the Filipinos’ hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Belize on Monday, completing an impressive turnaround after earlier setbacks against Morocco, Liberia and Costa Rica.
Against Curacao, the Philippines wasted little time asserting its dominance, with Rendon breaking the deadlock in the seventh minute off an assist from John Zhian Enario.
Matthew Zamora quickly doubled the advantage with a long-range strike that bounced into the net, putting the Filipinos firmly in control.
Curacao briefly threatened a comeback with a ninth-minute goal, but the Young Filipinos responded with an offensive onslaught that effectively put the match beyond their opponents’ reach.
LA Galaxy Academy standout Pascual restored the Philippines’ two-goal cushion after capitalizing on a quick attacking combination initiated by Rendon.
Rendon then completed his brace before halftime, converting a back pass from Enario to further stretch the Philippine advantage.
The relentless Philippine attack continued as Pascual pressured the Curacao defense into conceding an own goal in the 25th minute.
La Salle-Dasmariñas striker Josef Adrien Peña joined the scoring parade in the 33rd minute, finishing a forward pass from Sylar Alcantara.
Caligdong, a promising footballer from Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, delivered the finishing blows with two late goals, first converting a penalty kick before completing his brace with a tap-in following Alcantara’s missed attempt in the closing seconds.
The eight-goal explosion marked a commanding finish for the Filipinos, who had struggled offensively during their opening three matches.
Their resurgence began against Belize, where full-back Frank Jonas Oliverio struck the winning goal off a long pass from Juan Carlo Morales.
Goalkeeper Jordan Tan and the Philippine backline also produced crucial defensive stops to preserve the narrow victory.
Alcantara, a former Ateneo Grade School player now based in Barcelona, had earlier registered the Philippines’ first goal of the tournament against Costa Rica, assisted by Dan Becera.
With their two consecutive victories, the Young Filipinos collected six points to secure fourth place in Group F and advance to Tier D of the competition.
The Philippines will now seek to sustain its momentum in the next phase as it attempts to improve its overall ranking and secure a place among the tournament’s top 100 teams in the 189-nation field./PN
