The Western Visayas side bound to see action in the National PRISAA football tournament held a team composed of RP Team aspirants to a 3-3 stalemate yesterday in an exhibition match in Barotac Nuevo town Iloilo.

St. La Salle winger Arnie Pasinabo and Ruben Doctora rescued the nationals from embarrassment by scoring a goal each in the second half, after JP Gardose struck twice and a Ruffy Llorente penalty conversion put the WV booters, 3-1, up at halftime.

Doctora, of Sta. Barbara town, Iloilo, opened the scoring 14 minutes into the game.

Still, it was a positive result for the WV booters, who were deemed fit and ready for battle in Zamboanga City next week.

“I was very impressed. The players are hungry. They can win the national title,” Norman Fegidero, who was supposed to mentor the WV XI until he was appointed coach of the national team, told the DAILY STAR.

While he was happy with the performance of the team he used to coach, Fegidero appeared concerned by the showing of his current squad and said that the sweltering conditions was a huge factor in the game.

And the national booters have their work cut out for them.

“They (RP players) couldn’t play well with that kind of heat,” he said. “We need to work on that”.

Ironically, the games during the AFC Challenge Cup next month will be played at 3:30 p.m., about the same time as the two teams kicked off yesterday.

Fegidero, a 12-year veteran with the national team, admitted nationals were, at times, disorganized in their play --- the result of a lack of communication on the pitch.

“No one has so far stepped up to become a leader of the team,” he said.

“Communication on the pitch was the topic in our boardwork before the game. Obviously, they did not follow the game plan,” Fegidero said.

The nationals suffered a bigger blow when midfielder Ed Mallari’s shoulder injury recurred, probably exerting too much force while trying to shield his marker.

Mallari, whom Fegidero described as “hardworking and has the potential to be a leader of the team”, is expected to undergo surgery and will be doubtful for the May 13-20 tournament, where the Philippines will pit skills with Tajikistan, Bhutan and Brunei.

Fegidero said Filipino-British midfielder James Younghusband couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game and played in the first 50 minutes.

“He is still unfit and he needs to work on his conditioning overtime,” Fegidero said of James, whose younger brother Phil, a striker, will join the team on April 27.

Bagoeño keeper Edward Sacapaño played the first 45 minutes and surrendered all three goals. He was replaced at halftime by former USLS keeper Archie Bayquin.

Fegidero, who began training camp March 24, expressed optimism that the nationals will transform into one cohesive unit come tournament time.

He is also hoping that players based abroad like Chris Greatwich, James Hall and Neal Etheridge will have enough time to jell with the squad.

“We still have time to regroup. I think the first game is always difficult, especially if you have a rag-tag team,” he said.*CPT

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