THERE ARE only two seniors currently on the Ateneo Men’s Football Team this Season 78. When most think of the squad, the name that usually comes to mind is “Mikko Mabanag.” But without a doubt, Blue Eagle Carlo Liay is just as important to the team; if Mabanag is what powers the offense, it is Liay that fuels the defense. And what people do not know is that there is more to him than the fiery individual we see in the forefront of the Ateneo resistance.
Having been born and raised in Italy, Liay took a very unconventional route to get to where he is right now. His Filipino parents moved to Italy at a very young age; they ended up meeting each other and have since been working there. It was there on the streets of Europe where their son’s love for the sport grew.
“In Italy, football is life there,” Liay explains. “You don’t even notice when you start playing football. I was probably five or six [years old], and in school during breaks, we would make a ball out of paper and just tape it and play in the classroom.”
Liay started playing competitive club football when he was nine years old and continued playing at that level until he graduated from high school. It was then that his opportunity to play for the Ateneo arose one summer break, when he was on vacation in the Philippines with his family.
Path to the Philippines
Liay explains that his club, Associazione Calcio Lumezzane, requested him to keep in shape during the break. Because of his cousin’s ties to the College of Saint Benilde in Manila, Liay was able to play with the team to get back up to speed. And after impressing his peers during that brief stint, he was given the opportunity to try out for the Under-18 Philippine National Team.
Not surprisingly, Liay’s skill and knowledge of the game was well received by the squad and he was immediately recruited to the team. Unfortunately, while training in Myanmar for a competition, he got injured. But for the Ateneo, this injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“When I got injured, they sent me to the Moro [Lorenzo] clinic. The end of my therapy consisted of training with the varsity team since my [personal trainer] wanted to see if I was cleared to play,” Liay recalls. “So I went to training and that’s where Coach Jay Pee [Merida] saw me and asked me to study [in the Ateneo] for college.”
The rest is history. After a long discernment process, Liay traded the quaint streets of his hometown in Brescia for the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila football.
Veteran presence
To Mabanag, what Liay offers to the team is simple. “Composure and confidence,” says the team captain, an apt description for Liay, who said he patterns his style of play over legendary midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Liay hopes to bring the same kind of cool and classy approach that Pirlo brought to all his squads.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper JP Oracion thinks that Liay’s calm demeanor is very helpful for a young squad. “In the team, he seems to be the person to calm [us] down,” said the shot-stopper. “He lets his teammates be and then tell them what to fix. He rarely shouts at people.” In a team that consists of mostly freshmen and sophomores, the experience he brings to the table is invaluable.
What’s more, the brand of football Liay brings to the Philippines is both unique and special. It has gotten to the point where even his coaches ask him for advice and tips on how to play the game. He credits his training abroad for his advanced style of play and believes that the fitness, intensity, and drills are different in Italy.
But despite his foreign training, the Blue Eagles co-captain has himself firmly invested in the Ateneo’s endeavors; he is looking to capture a second title for the Blue and White after winning his last one in his first year as a rookie. And although he is unsure of what lies after his playing tenure, one thing is certain for the midfielder.
“I realize that football is the constant in my life, so even if I plan not to [continue playing], I will always go back to football—my shelter.”
