Tight matches, pure sportsmanship at the 4th Adobo Football Cup

MANILA, Philippines – On its fourth year, the Adobo Football Cup saw its tightest match-ups yet. The inter-ad agency tournament organized by adobo magazine, the country’s leading advertising, brand communications and design publication, saw ten teams battle it out, five-a-side, at the University of Makati Football Field last March 26.

Sports channel Balls TV, JWT Manila, Leo Burnett Manila, defending champion Publicis, and the tandem of Virus and NuWorks Interactive were in Group A. Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO Guerrero/Proximity, NetBooster, Y&R, and the combined forces of DDB and DM9 (yellow) made up Group B.

None of the four semi-finalist teams were able to score, even through the full six-minute overtime. The decisions for the finals were made through penalty kicks. Ace Saatchi & Saatchi prevailed over Balls TV with only a single goal. JWT trumped DM9/DDB.

The finals match saw Saatchi’s Deo Calumba scoring the only goal against JWT, securing victory for the agency, which will keep the Cup until next year’s tournament.

JWT Manila, also returning winners of Best in Team Spirit, came in first runner-up. The Balls TV team, which included TV personalities Atom Araullo, Jake Cuenca and TJ Manotoc, walked away with the Bronze trophy.

Deo Marco “Cultured” Calumba of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi was named Best Midfielder; teammate Lawrence “Thonks” Kwek, who braved an injury and defied the university nurse’s warning, was Best Goalkeeper. Balls TV’s Paolo Buendia was Best Defender and Adobo Cup regular Ebong Joson of JWT was Most Valuable Player. With four goals in the entire tournament, Winston Tan of DM9/DDB was awarded with the Golden Boot. Individual awardees received a trophy, a one-month membership from Fitness First and a gift pack from Alaska.

Since its inception five years ago, adobo magazine has been an avid supporter of Philippine football. It recently hosted the official cinema screening of the independent film Happyland, on the futkaleros of Tondo.

The Adobo Cup 2011 was co-presented by Alaska in cooperation with Fitness First. The event was also sponsored by Ensogo, McDonald’s, Gatorade, Nike and Yehey!, media partners Balls TV, INQUIRER.net, Garage Magazine, and Manila Bulletin.