Hiroshi FC: Comeback kids
Their primary purpose, based on what team captain Voltaire Montebon said, isn’t to win titles but to guide the young players in Sambag 1, players who haven’t seen the team at their peak.
In the past few years, Cebu football has been getting predictably boring, with the men’s open title alternating between top teams Leylam and Erco FC. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s the fault of the two teams, which have strengthened their squads with player acquisitions over the years.
It’s just that, well, if NBA fans scoff at another Golden State vs. Cleveland finals and want variety, you can’t blame football fans for wanting the same in the local men’s open football scene.
That’s not to say, of course, that it wasn’t a twoway horse race before. It was too. Before the Leylam vs. Erco duopoly, there was the Crazy Horse vs. Hiroshi FC rivalry that was rather one-sided. I remember covering a string of finals where the two meet and it would be Hiroshi coming out on top.
That rivalry had everything, including a brawl in the Thirsty Cup that led to lifetime bans in the event for those concerned. But, it’s all water under the bridge as players from both have even played for each other.
One of the best memories I had of the Hiroshi vs. Crazy Horse rivalry was when the Cebu Football Association used the league-type competition for the men’s open, and the title came to the last game between the two. They were so even that they were equal on points and goals scored, with Crazy Horse holding a one-goal advantage only in the goals conceded department. The reason, the rather colorful Hiroshi FC keeper Ace Mangohid decided to launch into his signature roll instead of a routine pick-up, resulting in a goal by an opponent that was getting its breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between handed to them in another Hiroshi rout.
The title went to Hiroshi in one of the best finals I’ve ever seen in the Aboitiz Cup. I can’t forget that since it was the day my friend Mark got married and I had to squeeze in the finals on the wedding day. That triumph marked the complete sweep of Hiroshi in all men’s open competitions in Cebu for that year.
Of course, this is not to say that the team, which is mounting a comeback, will be a contender in the tournaments it will be joining. The players are, euphemistically saying healthier and a more mature now than when they were at their peak. Still, their comeback is a welcome development.
Their primary purpose, based on what team captain Voltaire Montebon said, isn’t to win titles but to guide the young players in Sambag 1, players who haven’t seen the team at their peak. Montebon, who by the way, has spent more time on the bike than on the field these past years, also scored one of the best goals I’ve seen in a final, bending it like Beckham past a Queen City United wall six years ago.
That was in the Cebu Amateur Football Club men’s open, one of the biggest tournaments in Cebu before that was organized by Queen City. That too has taken a hiatus and it’s understandable since most of the guys running that tournament are now running Cebu football.
But perhaps they might consider a comeback, too?