By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Filipinas San Carlos Under-12 football team emerged as champions in the 2024 Real Madrid Foundation Clinics World Challenge held recently at the Valdebebas Training Ground in Madrid, Spain.

The Negros Occidental’s San Carlos City-based booters clinched the crown in the U-12 category (silver group) after a 3-1 beating of the United States of America-Blue team in the finals.

The Philippine representatives were composed of U-12 players who were beneficiaries of the Escuela Socio Deportiva Sining at Pag-asa (SIPA) Program in San Carlos.

In the elimination round, the Filipinas San Carlos U-12 team prevailed over USA-Blue, 3-2, suffered a close 3-2 defeat to Canada-Blue, and was forced to a 1-1 draw by USA-White.

In the quarterfinals, the San Carlos team scored a dominant 10-0 win over the United Arab Emirates, and a close 3-2 triumph over Turkey, while they pulled off a 1-0 escape over USA-Purple in the semifinals.

“I am thankful to be part of this team, and I am also grateful to those who made our participation in this tournament possible,” Filipinas San Carlos team captain Christian Paul Limpio said.

Also included in the delegation are SIPA Program head coach Jose Dennis Peñalosa, football coaches Jae Marie Abuan and Francis Roy Barcuma, and San Carlos Development Board Executive Director Jose Miguel Valmayor.

Fundacion Santiago Executive Director Chaco Molina said they were delighted to have invited the Filipinas San Carlos U-12 team as they definitely displayed a good performance in the three-day competition.

“The Fundacion Santiago were impressed by their quality of performance,” Molina said.

“Participating in the competition was a great opportunity for Sancaloseňo players to be recognized in Madrid.”

The 2024 Real Madrid Foundation Clinics World Challenge is the third edition of the tournament that gathers teams around the world to demonstrate football’s most prominent winning methodology and Real Madrid Foundation values./ASC, WDJ