By Angel Joyce C. Basa

Newly crowned champs Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Booters Mon Diansuy and Edgar Aban Jr. conveyed their appreciation for the FEU community after receiving individual awards at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men's football awarding ceremony last Sunday, December 15, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila City.

“Maraming, maraming salamat, alam kong kung hindi dahil sa inyo, mahirap maging champion pero nang dahil sa inyo, naging champion kami at champion tayong lahat (Thank you very much, I know that if it weren't for [the community], it would have been hard to be a champion but because of you all, we became champions and we are all champions),” Diansuy said in an interview with FEU Advocate.

The Tamaraw Booters took home their redemption crown against the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Blue Eagles in a thrilling penalty shootout-decider match between the two teams last weekend.

Forward Aban took the Rookie of the Year (ROY) award while goalkeeper Diansuy bagged the title of Most Valuable Player (MVP).

In a post-game interview, the ROY expressed his surprise at obtaining an award after sitting out a few games and losing momentum throughout the season.

“Na-shock po ako dahil nakuha ko ‘yung award po dahil, ‘yun nga, nawala ako sa momentum nu’ng ‘di ako nakalaro ng ilang games tapos masaya po ako dahil nabalik po ‘yung [championship] sa FEU (I was shocked that I got the award because I lost momentum when I did not play for a few games and I’m happy because we got the championship back to FEU),” he said.

On the other hand, FEU head coach Roman Oliver commented on the performance of the rookies and was at a loss for words with how they performed in the season. 

“I’m very happy with them, I don't have words to describe how [much] work they had, how hard they worked, how much they improved their mentality, about their talent—I don't have words. [They are] unbelievably good,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Diansuy shared how their past season’s heartbreaking finals loss fueled their passion to get back on track and reclaim their reign in the UAAP football pitch.

“Ang sakit na matalo, eh. Champion [kami] nu’ng Season 85, [tapos nu’ng] Season 86, akala namin back-to-back [championships] pero isa sa pinakamasakit na nangyari [‘yung] ‘di namin inasahan na matatalo kami no’n (It hurts to lose. We were the champions in Season 85 then in Season 86, we thought it would be back-to-back championships but it was one of the most painful experiences when we did not expect to lose),” the MVP stated.

Aside from Diansuy and Aban, the UAAP awarded Blue Eagles Artuz Cezar as Best Goalkeeper, Jet Dela Cruz as Best Defender, Leo Maquiling as Best Striker, and Dov Cariño as Best Midfielder and Golden Boot, while the whole AdMU team obtained the Fair Play award.

After finishing the elimination round as third seed, the Morayta-based squad headed into the finals after beating defending champions University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in their semifinals clash.

(Photos by Gwyneth Mendoza/FEU Advocate; Courtesy of Max Dela Cruz/FEU Athletics)