Cebu FC's Historic Victory Extends Philippine Clubs' Win Streak Over Shan United to Eight in a Row

By Kokoy Severino

Coach Han Win Aung of Myanmar's Shan United FC is a man of few words. If his club's winless record against Philippine sides in past pan-Asian tournament outings dating all the way back to 2018 were at all on his mind, he didn't let on a bit the night before they were to take on Cebu United FC. In fact, what seemed to be the only concerning factor to Han was the number of foreign players they each had on their respective rosters, Cebu with six and Shan only four in accordance with Myanmar National League regulations.

Whether this proved to be a deciding factor in Cebu's win Thursday night will forever be up for debate, as it took only one goal from a foreign player to extend the Philippine club win streak over Shan United to now eight in a row over the past five years. Japanese forward Ken Murayama owned the Cebu left flank all night, repeatedly driving deep into Shan territory. His 28th-minute thrust down the wing finishing from just inside the box with a lovely left-footed torpedo careening off goalkeeper Min Latt's right calf and into the net turned out to be the game-winner, and a history-making goal giving the young club its first continental victory.

The score remained 1-0 through the final whistle, belying the many more chances the Cebu offense squandered with poor finishes. Cebu coach Joshua Schirmer was quick to identify finishing as a key element his squad need to work on before the return match on November 9 in Yangon's Thuwunna Stadium. 

"We could have put this game away a lot earlier and made our job a lot easier in the second half had we finished some of those really big chances."

The Filipino preference for the long-ball fast-break style ended up giving Cebu an advantage, consistently outrunning the opposition in the offensive third and outshooting them despite Shan United having a majority of possession. 

On a rare day when Philippine teams went undefeated, the women's national team romping over Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the Olympic Qualifiers in Australia and Stallion Laguna settling for a draw in their AFC Cup Group G match against Terengganu in Malaysia earlier that afternoon, Cebu FC's historic win was an exhilarating way to cap off the night.

While these results are cause for collective national optimism in the development of Philippine football, it's still way too early to start any euphoric celebrations; there is a long way to go in both the AFC Cup and the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifiers. 

And as Coach Han quite pointedly said, "Anything can happen in football."

Rizal Memorial Stadium readies for the AFC Cup showdown between Dynamic Herb Cebu FC and Shan United FC

Dynamic Herb Cebu FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group F:

September 21 – Cebu FC 0, Phnom Penh Crown 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 5 – Macarthur 8, Cebu FC 2 @ Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney, Australia

October 26 – Cebu FC 1, Shan United 0 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

November 9 – vs Shan United @ Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 6:30 pm

November 30 – vs Phnom Penh Crown @ Smart RSN Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 7:00 pm

December 14 – vs Macarthur @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

Philippine Women's National Team results and fixtures in AFC Olympic Qualifiers Group A

October 26 – Philippines 4, Chinese Taipei 1 @ HBF Park, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

October 29 – vs Australia @ Optus Stadium, Burswood, Western Australia, Australia 3:00 pm

November 1 – vs Iran @ HBF Park, Perth, Western Australia, Australia time TBA

Stallion Laguna FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group G

September 20 – Stallion Laguna FC 2, Bali United 5 @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna

October 4 – Central Coast Mariners 9, Stallion Laguna FC 1 @ Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Queensland, Australia

October 26 – Terengganu FC 2, Stallion Laguna FC 2@ Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

November 8 – vs Terengganu FC @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

November 29 – vs Bali United @ Captain 1 Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali, Indonesia 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

Kaya-Iloilo FC results and fixtures in AFC Champions League Group G (all kickoff times local at venue):

September 19 – Kaya Iloilo FC 1, Shandong Taishan 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 3 – Incheon United 4, Kaya Iloilo FC 0 @ Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon, South Korea

October 25 – Yokohama FM 3, Kaya Iloilo FC 0 @ Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan

November 7 – vs Yokohama FM @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

November 28 – vs Shandong Taishan @ Jinan Olympic Stadium, Jinan, China 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Incheon United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 4:00 pm

 

 

Kokoy Severino is a career educator and Secretary of the Football For Peace Movement in the Philippines. He has coached junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for over 20 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma and a Goalkeeping Coaching Certification from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and United Soccer Coaches, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk economically disadvantaged students. Kokoy returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and works with fellow soccer coaches to conduct training sessions for underserved youths in impoverished neighborhoods. He is also a member of Initiatives and Hearts for Indigenous People, a collective of soccer coaches in the Philippines who use the beautiful game to mentor youths out of poverty, particularly focusing on marginalized indigenous communities. 

Kokoy is a lifelong traveler and has been documenting soccer matches through photographs in his native country of the Philippines, his adopted home state of Texas, as well as in Singapore, Vietnam, and Washington State, plus more parts of the world to come.

Check out The Adventures of Kokoy - A Travel Guide.

Read and view Coach Kokoy's blog about implementing the beautiful game as an academic and social-emotional intervention at an inner-city junior high school for new immigrants to the United States - Coach Kokoy's Las Americas Soccer Blog.

                 

"Life is not a journey, but a pilgrimage..."

- Kokoy Severino has been in a constant state of travel since he was four years old.

Photo by Dad.

Disaggregating the Data – Philippine Clubs in the First Round of Continental Cup Matches

By Kokoy Severino

Through over two decades in public service as an educational leader, I can't say that analyzing data was one of my more thrilling responsibilities, but it was one of the most important. In disaggregating data, educators were able to get quantifiable insight into their strengths and weaknesses as an academic community. "Data-driven" was one of the catch phrases of the day, as a directive from the state government requiring schools to design programs using their analyses of achievement and demographic data, centering largely around - for better or worse - standardized test results. School leaders underwent extensive training on data disaggregation, and in turn trained faculty. As part of principal's certification programs, candidates were required to take an entire master's level college course on data analysis. Disaggregating data helped me validate the community's need for a competitive interscholastic soccer team as a gang-intervention after-school incentive program in a high-poverty urban school district with a proportionately significant recent immigrant population.

Over the years, I have come to particularly enjoy disaggregating football data in various contexts - in this case, the three Philippine clubs in the pan-Asian competitions that completed their first cycle of group stage matches - Kaya Iloilo vs Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League, and Stallion Laguna vs Bali United and Dynamic Herb Cebu vs Phnom Penh Crown in the AFC Cup. The Asian Football Confederation tracks and compiles some detailed statistics in their match reports. Analyzing the data can shed some further light into where the Philippine football system currently stands in the broader scale.

Philippine clubs were outscored 11 goals to three in this first series of matches for a ratio of 3.67:1. The time stamp for each goal is recorded. Sectored into match quadrants, the data shows that Philippine defenses consistently shut out the opposition in the first quadrant of play. All goals scored against them occurred in the second to fourth quadrants, including one in the 95th minute. An overwhelming majority, precisely eight of the 11 goals were scored in the latter quadrant of the half. Significantly, the Philippine club facing arguably the strongest opposition, Kaya Iloilo, was not scored upon until the third match quadrant. For 137 out of 298 total minutes played, Philippine clubs kept the score even, 45.3% of game time. In fact, the data shows that the home sides spent a majority of game minutes tied or down by only one goal, certainly not an insurmountable deficit by any stretch of the imagination. The Philippine teams only let the game get away from them in the latter match quadrant.

Figure 1:

First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments

Figure 2:

Examining the position of each goal-scorer, the data shows that opposing offenses were able to penetrate deep into the Philippine defensive third. Nine of 11 opposition goals were struck from within 12 yards of goal (including the penalty). Five of the goals came from within the six-yard box, including one off a corner kick. 

Figure 3: Position of goal-scorer at point of strike, first round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC tournaments 

 Goals scored against Kaya Iloilo

 Goals scored against Stallion Laguna

 Goals scored against Dynamic Herb Cebu

Philippine clubs defended corner kicks quite effectively, allowing only one goal out of 18 total taken against them. Corner kick evidence shows, however, that the Philippine sides were successful in threatening deep in the offensive third, logging four more taken than the opposition.

Figure 4:

First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments

Offensively, Philippine sides ended the series with a cumulative 64% passing accuracy, completing 507 of 793 passes attempted. In comparison, the opposing teams completed 913 of their 1200 for a 76.1% accuracy. These numbers suggest the extent of the opposition's domination of ball possession, completing more passes than Philippine total pass attempts. It also reflects the more direct style preferred by Philippine clubs, using longer passes to get the ball downfield in a hurry, a strategy requiring fewer passes and inevitably producing a lower completion percentage. Interestingly, the teams facing off in the third match of the series, Phnom Penh Crown and Dynamic Herb Cebu, posted the highest and second-highest pass completion rates respectively at 85% and 74%.

Figure 5:

First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments

In terms of shooting, Philippine offenses were on target with 11 of their 39 shots taken on goal for a 28.2% accuracy. The opposition finished with a 42.8% accuracy logging 18 strikes on target out of 42 attempted. In hard numbers, Stallion Laguna's 17 shots on goal were the most attempts out of all six teams and they posted the most on target with seven, which is an amazing statistic considering Stallion maintained possession of the ball only 39.5% of their game, which is right below the average 40.4% of the three Philippine sides. Consequently, Bali United's Brazilian goalkeeper Adilson Maringa was the busiest of the week, scored upon twice and forced to make five saves. 

Figure 6: 

Figure 7a and 7b: 

Based on the data presented, the coaching staffs of the three Philippine sides in the ongoing Asian continental club competitions are likely addressing the following needs they have in common as Match Day 2 approaches:

- Increase ball possession time. By possessing the ball more, the opposing team's possession and scoring opportunities are reduced. Raising ball possession minutes also slows the pace down, allowing more efficient use of energy, clearly problematic in the latter match quadrants.

- Improve finishing. Philippine offenses were successful in generating opportunities. However, an overwhelming majority of their shot attempts were off target. Higher percentage of on-target shots should in turn increase goal production. 

Knowing the high quality of coaching now exercised in the modern Philippine club system, the three representatives of the country on the continental stage no doubt have been doing their own disaggregation, and have designed their respective data-driven courses. 

This has been a watershed year for Philippine football in many different aspects. As the various squads traverse through this history-making journey, they will continue to achieve threshold upon threshold along the way. As we gather more and more data with experience, we can only expect that the evidence will show steady and constant improvement, eventually leading to a return to the glory days of Philippine football. 

References:

Kaya Iloilo FC vs Shandong Taishan FC

https://www.the-afc.com/en/matches/afc-champions-league/20232024/2407019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSDQl1fOdZ4

Stallion Laguna FC vs Bali United FC

https://www.the-afc.com/en/matches/afc-cup/20232024/2407020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzu0bcvYpVU

Dynamic Herb Cebu FC vs Phnom Penh Crown FC

https://www.the-afc.com/en/matches/afc-cup/20232024/2406999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63G_gjjfaOc

Kaya-Iloilo FC results and fixtures in AFC Champions League Group G (all kickoff times local at venue):

September 19 – Kaya Iloilo FC 1, Shandong Taishan 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 3 – vs Incheon United @ Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon, South Korea 7:00 pm

October 25 – vs Yokohama FM @ Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan 7:00 pm

November 7 – vs Yokohama FM @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

November 28 – vs Shandong Taishan @ Jinan Olympic Stadium, Jinan, China 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Incheon United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 4:00 pm

Stallion Laguna FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group G

September 20 – Stallion Laguna FC 2, Bali United 5 @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna

October 4 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Queensland, Australia 7:00 pm

October 26 – vs Terengganu FC @ Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia 8:00 pm

November 8 – vs Terengganu FC @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

November 29 – vs Bali United @ Captain 1 Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali, Indonesia 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

 

Dynamic Herb Cebu FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group F:

September 21 – Cebu FC 0, Phnom Penh Crown 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 5 – vs Macarthur @ Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney, Australia 7:00 pm

October 26 – vs Shan United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

November 9 – vs Shan United @ Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 6:30 pm

November 30 – vs Phnom Penh Crown @ Smart RSN Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 7:00 pm

December 14 – vs Macarthur @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

 

Kokoy Severino is a career educator and Secretary of the Football For Peace Movement in the Philippines. He has coached junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for over 20 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma and a Goalkeeping Coaching Certification from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and United Soccer Coaches, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk economically disadvantaged students. Kokoy returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and works with fellow soccer coaches to conduct training sessions for underserved youths in impoverished neighborhoods. He is also a member of Initiatives and Hearts for Indigenous People, a collective of soccer coaches in the Philippines who use the beautiful game to mentor youths out of poverty, particularly focusing on marginalized indigenous communities. 

Kokoy is a lifelong traveler and has been documenting soccer matches through photographs in his native country of the Philippines, his adopted home state of Texas, as well as in Singapore, Vietnam, and Washington State, plus more parts of the world to come.

Check out The Adventures of Kokoy - A Travel Guide.

Read and view Coach Kokoy's blog about implementing the beautiful game as an academic and social-emotional intervention at an inner-city junior high school for new immigrants to the United States - Coach Kokoy's Las Americas Soccer Blog.

                 

"Life is not a journey, but a pilgrimage..."

- Kokoy Severino has been in a constant state of travel since he was four years old.

Photo by Dad.