Saturday 4 February 2012

UFL Rant N Rave Top 3: Best League Rivalries

As with most sports, there are a number of great rivalries in the United Football League (UFL). Rivalries are occasionally created due to a particular event that causes bad blood between teams, players, or owners, but for the most part, rivalries exist for geographic reasons. No matter what the case, there are the Celtic-Rangers, Inter-AC Milan, Liverpool-Man United and of course, the Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalries. We have our own and this is MY top 3:
Loyola Meralco Sparks vs Green Archers United – Not sure about this, but some football scribes called this the Philippines' El Clasico. Blue versus Green. Katipunan versus Taft. Ateneo versus La Salle is one of the greatest local rivalries in sports. I know GAU is made-up mostly of La Sallians. How many Ateneans are there on the Loyola roster? Nevertheless, Loyola leads GAU in the number of commercial endorsements and in their head-to-head battle (since 2011) with 2 wins and 1 loss.

Global vs Air Force – They are the teams that have dominated the league & the only champions of UFL tourneys the past 2 and a half years. Contests between the two have always been close and down-the-wire. Some say the Caligdong-Barbaso match-up is a must-see, and so is the scoring display of Araneta-Bersales and El-Habbib-Bahadoran. Their affairs are usually low-scoring but always intense. In the last four meetings between both teams, it’s been even at 2 draws and a win each.

Kaya vs Loyola Meralco Sparks – Perhaps the hottest & most anticipated encounter would be this. This new rivalry was born out of their hotly contested semis encounter in last year’s UFL Cup. Loyola, with a thrilling comeback, edged out their counterparts 5 to 4 after being down 3 goals at the half. The match of the year was so in-demand, that it had been replayed a number of times on TV. This match-up also brings big names, celebrities and camera-friendly WAGs to the stands. Despite Kaya being a place ahead in the table last season, Loyola tops their head-to-head match-up (since 2011), winning 2 games and drawing one. 
You could catch what probably would be the match of the season, Kaya FC versus Loyola Meralco Sparks today (February 4) at 4pm in Rizal Stadium or on AKTV on IBC13.
If there's an El Clasico, I wonder what to name these match-ups. Anyone got suggestions?What's your favorite rivalry? #UFLrivalry

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*Photo credits: Mark Cristino, interaksyon.com

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