THE ALDEGUER clan is celebrating a little bit extra on Tuesday after the Philippines’ victory in its final match in the 2026 Asian Games men’s Under-23 football competition in Nagoya, Japan.
Andres Aldeguer scored the winning goal for the Philippines on a spot kick on injury time in a 2-1 win over Kuwait to close the country's first appearance in Asian Games football in 56 years on a winning note.
READ PMNT U23 beats Kuwait for first Asiad football win in 68 years
The win was witnessed by no less than Andres’ father Dino, a former basketball standout for the De La Salle Green Archers, who came all the way to Nagoya to watch his son play.
Aldeguer became part of La Salle lore when he buried a game-tying three-pointer in Game 3 of the 1999 men’s basketball final against University of Santo Tomas, with the Green Archers eventually winning in overtime, 78-75.
He wasn't playing for a championship on Tuesday but the 22-year-old Andres was nevertheless clutch just like dad. Aldeguer got the nod to take the penalty shot and break the deadlock after Jax Pena was fouled inside the box by Saleh Almehtab.
The younger Aldeguer, who plays club football for One Taguig FC, calmly scored the game-winner as the Philippines salvaged the full three points following losses to Uzbekistan, 5-1, and Vietnam, 2-0.
It was later learned that the win was the first by the Philippines in Asian Games men's football in 68 years, with the last victory coming in the third edition of the Asiad in 1958 in Tokyo coming at the expense of host country Japan, 1-0.
Information about that match nearly seven decades ago later emerged that the lone goal of the Philippines in the match was scored by a footballer named George Aldeguer, who it turned out was related to Andres.
“George Aldeguer is the cousin of my dad. So he is an uncle. We are related,” said Dino when SPIN.ph reached out to him to inquire about George Aldeguer.
As it turned out, George is the great grand uncle of Andres.
Dino was over the moon not just because of the win and the accomplishment of his son but also because of the newly discovered connection to that 1958 win.
“We cannot help but feel very blessed to have witnessed this game and also to be here to witness the Philippines play after 52 years. Then, what a bonus to know that the last winning goal scored was by a relative too,” said Dino, who won PBA titles with Alaska and an MBA (Metropolitan Basketball Association) trophy with the Negros Slashers.
“Hats off to the coach for his patience and dedication to the team. We had a heartbreaker against Vietnam. But also (thank you) to the entire PFF family led by Pres. John Gutierrez for the support,” Dino added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
