FEU Baby Tams proves to be invincible after record ninth straight UAAP Juniors Football Title

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With Pocholo Bugas’ solitary goal against the NU Bullpups, Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws has just unlocked cloud nine, with tenacious defending and non-stop attack, they truly deserved their ninth straight UAAP Juniors’ football silverware.  

It was all physical and exciting but the game only needed a 16th-minute goal from Pocholo, the younger brother of Paolo Bugas who also made a name for himself while wearing the green and gold. That solitary goal he scored was the first and only goal between the two teams for this season.

Bugas’ goal came from an error on the defensive third of the Bullpups which led to an easy tap-in for the seasons best striker who notched his seventh goal with his game-winning efforts.

Interestingly, it took almost 200 minutes to break the deadlock between these two worthy squads. After Bugas’ goal, the Baby Tams continued on the offensive while taking care of the defensive side of their game. They were keeping the possession so well that the Bullpups had a hard time catching up.

One can also notice how physical the game was as yellow cards piled up during the match. It didn’t seem like they were high school players from the looks of how they played. They clearly showed how bad they wanted the championship trophy.

Heading into the final minutes of the match, the Baby Tams didn’t want to rely on their defence and went on to look for the final nail in the coffin. This caused a bit of trouble for the boys from Diliman as NU-Nazareth piled on the mishaps at the back.

In the end, the resilience of the record-seeking squad prevailed. Now with nine straight championships, it doesn’t seem the end of it for the Baby Tamaraws. “I’m really happy for this result. Actually, I didn’t feel the pressure about the nine straight wins.” said by coach Bobae Park who just won his third consecutive title for the Baby Tamaraws.

He then followed by saying, “I came here after the six-peat. Our coaching staff’s ability is getting better. If we do not prepare well, we could’ve given them (NU-Nazareth) the chance to become champion.”

After two scoreless encounters between the two, Park needed some tweaking of their tactics to bring home the bacon. “I checked their formation and their starting members. We already made a plan so that we can defeat them.”

Regarding the winning formula for nine straight championships, coach Park said “Actually, I want to say our coaching staff because we really discuss how to improve together and I focus our movement and understanding football. Our players, we make them focus on movement, how to move together.”

On the other hand, talking about his winning goal, Bugas said, “Hinanap namin yung weak side nila sa left side. Na-tiyempuhan may space so, ayon.” The kid doesn’t seem to feel the pressure of following his brother’s footsteps as he said, “I feel blessed, super overwhelmed. Tinuruan niya din ako sa lahat ng mga bagay na ginagawa ko.”

With one more playing year for the Baby Tams, Bugas’ ambitions to match his brother’s championship record and possibly, a record-setting 10-peat for the green and gold across juniors and seniors division. “Enjoyin muna namin ‘tong championship then we’ll continue the streaks.”

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