Kevin de Castro scored a hat trick to power Laguna Football Association (FA) to a 4-2 win over Baguio-Benguet FA in the opener of the North, Central and South Luzon leg of the first Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Suzuki Under-23 National Cup on Wednesday at the University of the Philippines (UP) field in Los Baños, Laguna.

Midfielder Jim Flores added to the host town’s final tally. For the visiting team, Alvin Aoas scored a brace.

Laguna coach Aquilino Pastoral III credited his team’s victory to the experience his wards have gained for playing in Metro Manila.

“Karamihan ng players ko naglalaro sa Manila, at ’yun ang advantage ng team namin. Ang experience na nakukuha nila sa Manila ay nadadala nila dito sa Laguna,” said Pastoral.

Promising players in the tournament will likely be tapped for the national team to the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia, this November.

The football tournament of the SEA Games remains the most prestigious in the region although the biennial Suzuki Cup has begun to give the former a run for its money in terms of prestige and popularity.

Filipino-Spaniard Angel Aldeguer Guirado of the Azkals, who had a successful run in the qualifying stage of the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in Myanmar, joined the parade around the UP campus onboard the team’s personalized bus before the opening ceremony.

PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Suzuki Philippines president Satoshi Uchida, national team head coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami made the ceremonial kicks.

Weiss will also handle the U-23 team to the SEA Games.

“We have a wide participation from the football associations. So, all in all, we have 30 teams competing in this maiden voyage of the Under-23,” said Araneta, himself a former national player.

Palami, on the other hand, hinted at a national team that would someday be all homegrown.

“One problem of the team that we want to address is that the locals are being overshadowed by the foreigners. We encourage not just those under 23 years old to join, but even the young ones who are interested with the sport can start early in order to develop their craft,” said Palami.

“It’s a long and complicated process but I am optimistic that we’ll be able to find valuable under-23 talents in this competition to represent us in the SEA Games. Actually, my policy as team manager is that, if there’s not much difference from the foreign-trained Filipinos and the locals, I’d rather choose and develop the local talents,” Palami added.

As the North, Central and South Luzon kicked off on Wednesday, games were simultaneously played in Naga City and in Camarines Sur for the Southeast Luzon Leg. Both legs will run until Sunday.

The North Mindanao leg, hosted by the Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental Football Association, kicked off on Thursday and will run until Saturday. The West Mindanao leg, hosted by the Football Association of Misamis Occidental-Ozamiz, was held last week with Zamboanga del Norte-Dipolog topping the event to advance to the next stage.

“We’re always looking for quality players who are physically strong, who have a good technique, who have a good sense to play football, anyone who can prove their selves have a chance to try out. I’m not sure, I don’t know about the level of game that they have here, my coaching staff are looking for possible talents and we will have tryouts in May and then we will see if they can play or not,” said Weiss.

Uchida, on the other hand, said: “This is a good start for the partnership of Suzuki and the PFF. We are hoping this will grow and, based on the reaction of the crowd today and with the turnout of the kickoff, the people are really enthusiastic about the sport. I think we can look forward to a yearly PFF U-23.”

Actually, the PFF’s plan is to stage an under-23 competition every other year “because we are just following the calendar for the SEA Games,” according to Araneta. Next year, an under-21 competition will be staged. --Rick Olivares