Makati club scores 3rd in biggest youth football tournament

Last July, the Makati Football Club (MFC) Boys 12 brought home the third place trophy from the Gothia Cup in Goteborg, Sweden, the biggest youth football tournament in the

world for football clubs and schools with over 1,700 teams, 35,000 players, and 84 countries participating.

“This is our best result in 30 years,” says Tomas Lozano, founder and president. “In 1985, we were champions in the Gothia Cup for Boys 11; while in 1986, we placed third for Boys 12.”

MFC is the only club in the Philippines that, for the last 34 years, has consistently been able to send kids to Europe. “I choose Europe because I believe the people there are different, the language is different, so wherever you go, you learn something new. Our football program is not all about sports, value formation is also very important,” Lozano says.

The winning players at the Gothia Cup were Emmanuel Mariano, Prince Reyes, Alfonso Gonzalez, Basti Lizares, Matteo Manas, Liam Evangelista, Ganmark Munns, Yannick Agora, Edhy Zuluiani, Maxime Dedieu, Lucas Rodriguez, and Arthur Kaufmann. They were coached by two international French coaches Ladislao Lozano and Cedric Jandau.

The club’s successful trip to Europe also included big wins in two other international youth football tournaments: the Barcelona Cup in Barcelona, Spain, where they won first place for Boys 12 and third place for Boys Under 11, and the Cup No. 1 in Frederikshavn, Denmark, where they won third place for both Boys 11 and Boys 12.

“For the last 40 years, our club trains kids two to three times a week and compete in friendly local tournaments to prepare for international tournaments in Europe,” Lozano said. “The Gothia Cup is the most important tournament in the world for clubs and schools, it’s practically three times bigger than the Olympics. Last year, we finished eighth, this year we finished third, with hope, something really nice can happen for this kids next year.”

Read our story on the bright future of football in the Philippines as seen in the renewed interest and passion of young players on page E1. Scan the QR code on page 1 to see more.