38. My Most Thrilling Game: SEBASTIAN UGARTE, Champion Football Player, Graphic Magazine, 27 Nov. 1929

Here is a reproduced article from Philippine Graphic Magazine, from Nov. 27, 1929, part of "My Most Thrilling Game", a series of sports features based on interviews with our most popular athletes of the 1920s generation.

The name of SEBASTIAN UGARTE is familiar to all lovers of athletics. For one thing, while writing sports write-ups regularly for four publications and occasionally for two others—one of them GRAPHIC—he was usually seen wherever games were played. And for another thing, he figures in several branches of athletics.

But his fame lies in soccer football, which he began playing early in life—so early that by the time he was fifteen, he was already in the big leagues. He was for a long time a member of the La Salle combination, for fourteen consecutive years collegiate soccer champion of the Philippines. He has also played for the now defunct Circulo Recreativo, Club Filipino, Casino Español, last year’s champion Santo Tomas eleven, and some others. There can be little doubt that he is the best right-out in the country, for he can center a “cornered” pigskin with deadly precision, can dribble and pass skillfully, and has considerable force behind his kick.

In his sixteenth year, he was asked to join the Olympic team, but as they traveled to Osaka, his family objected on the ground of his youth. Later, however, he eventually became an Olympic player.

 “The most thrilling game I’ve ever played?” He considered the question for a minute or two before deciding: “I think that came about when I was with the All-Manila outfit which invaded Java a few years ago. We were playing then in Batavia, the capital, against the ‘Hercules’ aggregation—a team worthy of its name, for it was certainly a strong one.

 “The game began badly for us, and throughout the first half and the best portion of th second, all indications were to the effect that it would end that way too.

“The fight was heated enough and, for that matter, fundamentally even also. But somehow, they had the edge on us and whereas they failed repeatedly, we couldn’t manage to shoot the sphere between their goal posts. It seemed as if we were, to put it in soccer parlance, ‘dominated’. However, we didn’t lose hop and were resolved not to let the battel ease to the very end.

 “Ten minutes before the whistle blew for the last time, with the score three to nothing in favor of the Javanese team, a series of unexpected things began to happen. I don’t know what started them, but start they did.

 “Perhaps, we sort of became desperate and determined to make at least one goal before the game ended, fought like tigers. In any case, we surpassed all expectations . We made rush after rush, breaking through the Hercules defense again and again, the while checking all efforts of our opponents to advance and retaliate. And all in ten minutes—but believe me, within that short space of time was packed the thrill of years!

“To this day, I don’t know how we did it.”

Mr. Ugarte smiled humorously. “it was a miracle, really! From out the fury with which we attacked and the Javanese defended, a shot streak past the Javanese goal-keeper. Score 1-3. That was encouraging, perhaps electrifying, to the Filipinos. That lone tally inspired us. The furious mix-ups which followed found the sphere shooting into enemy goal twice in quick succession. The score was now 3-3.

 “The Javanese literally became ferocious at this state of the game, and we, with the coming of hope for victory, were no less fierce. In that atmosphere—one goal and a few fast fading minutes to make it—was defeat or victory.

 “The ball was soon sailing across the field---and in the direction of our own goal. The Javanese were determined to shoot another goal, and the ball was approaching the goal posts with lightning speed and deadly precision. A beautiful kick from the Javanese and the sphere shot straight between the posts. Our heart sank with that beautiful kick, but we hoped our own goal keeper would stop it—and he did. The ball sped back now into enemy territory and there followed one of the most desperate seconds of football I have ever played.

We got the ball so near the enemy goal posts that only a few feet separated us from victory. But the Javanese would not yield, but there followed a last second which gave us victory.”

SOURCES:

 GRAPHIC, 27 Nov. 1929 issue

De La Salle Alumni Association Sports Hall of Fame 1993

Photo: 1930 Far east games Foot ball team, wikimedia commons