By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Azkals Development Team (ADT) proved that they can bang with the biggest names in the country after an impressive outing in the Philippines Football League (PFL).
Many were surprised with the young team’s performance in the professional league as ADT was able to keep their matches competitive against the top two teams in the PH, the United City FC and the Kaya FC-Iloilo.
As ADT went further in the PFL, several players also showed improvement and displayed qualities to become the next face of PH football.
Two of them were Jarvey Gayoso and Mar Diano who recently received offers from Thailand fresh from their promising pro-league debuts.
“He won’t tell you this now, but at the end of the season, I got two or three teams in Thailand wanting to sign Jarvey Gayoso, wanting to sign Diano,” shared ADT head coach Scott Cooper.
Gayoso, one of ADT’s young stars, tied United City’s OJ Porteria for fourth in the PFL in scoring with four goals and became one of the biggest revelations in the league.
“Jarvey is talented, athletic, he’s got goals in him. What’s his best position? I loved reading that,” added ADT’s chief tactician.
Cooper gained a lot of criticism for switching Gayoso from his natural position to a defender during the start of the PFL bubble restart but the 50-year-old veteran coach ignored the naysayers and continued with his plan for Gayoso.
“When I met Jarvey, a lot of people told Jarvey exactly what he wants. And that’s not always what’s in the best interest of a football player. So for me, I felt like Jarvey, a great kid, a great attitude, great talent, but I felt there were too many people telling him all the things they thought he should hear, as opposed to what he needed to hear. And maybe those people didn’t really know what he needed to hear because they weren’t aware themselves,” said Cooper.
With the international offers the ADT stars are currently getting, Cooper did not disclose if his wards entertained any of it or if they will keep playing with ADT in the next PFL season.
