4-nation 7's football event set this weekend

Footballers from all walks of life comprise the Japanese team in the Asia 7s.

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Three teams from across Asia will travel to the Philippines this weekend to challenge the country's top seven-a-side footballers as Anton Del Rosario's AIA 7's Football League presents the BPI AIA Asia 7's.

Sevens clubs representing Japan, India, and Brunei will try to steal the thunder from the host squad the Philippines during the two-day event from April 21-23 at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig.

This early, though, Del Rosario expressed gratitude to the neighboring countries for helping make the Asia 7's possible.

"Without you, guys, this partnership and this dream would not be able to happen, so we really appreciate you guys being partners and helping grow the seven-a-side football across Asia," Del Rosario said in an online press conference on Monday.

He then revealed that he also extended invites to Vietnam and Guam, but both nations could not complete their respective lineups in time for the Asia 7s.

Del Rosario, however, assured, "They will be looking to come in the future."

The four teams will collide in a single round-robin preliminary round to determine the seedings for the semifinals.

The top seed will take on the fourth seed in one semifinal, while the other two teams will clash in the other semifinal with the winners advancing to the championship match.

Being the powerhouse that it is, whether in the usual 11s or even in the sevens, Japan is being tagged as the heavy favorite to rule the Asia 7s.

"We carefully selected them at the trials we'd had held in January. We have some college students, normal workers, YouTubers, TikTokers, and influencers that are very excited to share their experiences here with us, and also some former professional players," Keller Costa, the Japanese team coach, bared the composition of his lineup. "We're going to do our best so we can become champions of this tournament."

However, Del Rosario vowed that the Philippine team will make good use of the home-field edge to put up a solid run of its own.

"We are playing at home. You understand how big of an advantage this is for football. We're here to win. We are putting together a solid team. You guys will be surprised by the talent that will be coming out of here," Del Rosario said. "We do have the strongest and most experienced players for seven-a-side football in Asia."

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