The all-star football game “Clear Dream Match 2” will be held Aug. 24 at the University of Makati, with 2006 Fifa World Player of the Year Fabio Cannavaro and former Chelsea team captain Dennis Wise in the lineup.
Four weeks and thousands of votes after the announcement of the match, the rosters for Team James and Team Phil were decided Aug. 10 at SM Megamall Events Center. A voting pool of 50 players was trimmed down to 34, each drafted by team captains James and Phil Younghusband.
“The rivalry this year is intense. Throughout the four weeks, the brothers were really gunning for that first pick,” said Drew Copuyoc, brand manager of Clear shampoo, the game’s main sponsor.
Twist
The twist to this year’s match was that the fans determined the first pick. Online, fans showed support for their chosen team. The number one digitally active fan will live out a football fan’s dream and fly with James and Phil Younghusband to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
For Team Phil, the first five picks were Carlie de Murga, Park Min Ho, Jeff Christaens, OJ Porteria and Patrick Deyto. Having won last year’s match, Phil was granted an extra pick—he chose Chad Gould.
Team James had Yves Ashime, Jason De Jong, Misagh Bahadoran, Saba Garmaroudi and Oussenyou Diop.
To complete their teams, the Younghusband brothers drew lots. Phil chose Jinggoy Valmayor, Masanari Omura, Byeong Yeol Jeong, Chris Greatwich, Boyet Cañedo, Anton del Rosario, Nick O’Donnel, Sam YG, Mikko Mabanag, Armand del Rosario and Ronald Batisla Ong.
James got Roxy Dorlas, Tony Toni, Chieffy Caligdong, Nico Bolzico, Jonah Romero, Ian Araneta, Simon Greatwich, Daniel Matsunaga and Ref Cuaresma.
Wildcard pick
The wildcard pick for Team James was Izzo Elhabib; for Team Phil it was Rufo Sanchez.
Cannavaro and Wise got to choose which team they wanted to play with. Cannavaro picked Team James, saying that “last year’s match was one-sided, so I want to help James even the score.” Wise selected Team Phil because of his desire to win.
The Clear Dream Match 2 is sponsored by Smart, Greenwich, Seda Hotels, Adidas, Gatorade, Rappler and Technomarine.
Tickets are available at SM outlets. Call 4702222.