Watch for Team James, Team Phil

MANILA, Philippines - On Aug. 24, the University of Makati will host the battle for Clear Supremacy. Powered by Clear, the country’s biggest all-star football game returns with World Cup Champion Fabio Cannavaro and Chelsea football legend Dennis Wise in the line-up.

Four weeks and thousands of votes after the announcement of the Clear Dream Match 2, the rosters for Team James and Team Phil have been decided last Aug. 10 at the SM Megamall Events Center. A voting pool of 50 players was trimmed down to 34. Each one was drafted by team captains James and Phil Younghusband (photo).

Clear brand manager Drew Copuyoc said, “The rivalry this year is so intense. Throughout the four weeks, both brothers were really gunning for that first pick.”

What’s the twist to match? The fans would determine the first pick. Online, fans have been given a voice to show support for their chosen team. The reward: The No. 1 digitally active fan will get to live out the football fan’s dream and fly to Brazil alongside James and Phil in 2014.

With over 100,000 points from digital participation, Team Phil was given the first-draft pick. The draft was split into three rounds.

In Round One, James and Phil took turns choosing their Top 5 players. On 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 in which he chose Chad Gould. On the other hand, Team James began to form with Yves Ashime, Jason De Jong, Misagh Bahadoran, Saba Garmaroudi and Oussenyou Diop.

During Round Two, the brothers drew lots completing their rosters. Phil selected Jinggoy Valmayor, Masanari Omura, Byeong Yeol Jeong, Chris Greatwich, Boyet Canedo, Anton del Rosario, Nick O’ Donnel, Sam YG, Mikko Mabanag, Armand del Rosario and Ronald Batisla Ong. While James selected Roxy Dorlas, Tony Toni, Chieffy Caligdong, Nico Bolzico, Jonah Romero, Ian Araneta, Simon Greatwich, Daniel Matsunaga and Ref Cuaresma.

In round Three (wildcard), Team James had Izzo Elhabib, while Team Phil chose Rufo Sanchez.

Everyone wondered which team each legend would be on. Here’s the other twist: Fabio and Dennis were the ones who would select which team they wanted to be on.

Fabio chose to play on Team James stating that “last year’s match was one-sided, and this year, I want to help James even the score.” Dennis, on the other hand, chose Team Phil because of his desire to win. “Like Phil, I love to win and I always love to score goals, and that’s the type of team I want to be associated with,” Dennis said.

With the teams set, the road to the Clear Dream Match is almost at its peak.

“I’m excited for the game, I think I have made the right selection and look forward to defending my title as the better Younghusband,” said Phil.

James shared, “It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be such an honor to share the playing field with legends such as Cannavaro and Wise.”

Tickets for the dream match can be purchased through any SM Ticket outlet. The Clear Dream Match is presented by Smart, Greenwich, Seda Hotels, Adidas, Gatorade, Rappler and Technomarine.