For the past two championships, Sagitun have virtually owned Juventus. In last year?s championship series, they were so confident that they chose to play the first game of the series on the road at the People?s Stadium, even after they had gained what we could refer to as home field advantage.

In the regular season, from what I have seen, this was a Sagitun that could afford to play soft in the first half of many of their games and return in the second half to play a different game ? the mark of a true champion. Sagitun players are deep and often emotionally charged when their backs appear to be, or are against the wall. Candido Garcia wears the head coach?s hat, but we all know whose team this is, besides being that of the big boss Tony Zabaneh. Like it or not, Sagi is Hilly Muschamp and vice versa.

If Sagi should fall behind in any of these championship series games, expect the same – ?Hilly? moves up top to the middle, and big brother, Robert ?Hog? Muschamp, moves down low to the defensive trenches where either can hold his own. Sagitun has a forward line that is the envy of many of the BPFL teams – Elroy ?Bibb? Kuylen, Mark ?Kelo? Leslie, Robert ?Hog? Muschamp, Orlando ?Leach? Jimenez and Marcos ?McGoo? Souto, just to name a few, and they are just as equally stacked on the bench – Jose Lara, Francis ?Carcass? Arzu, etc.

Sagitun does appear to have a weakness in Kuylen when they have him as a striker. He?s not a natural striker and that was evident in the last Sagitun/Juventus game where Jerome ?Jeh-Jeh? Serrano was assigned the task of guarding Kuylen. Serrano exposed him, not allowing him to get space. Kuylen?s strength comes from his ability to shoot, but he falls short when he must create on his own and then shoot.

Juventus is just as gifted on and off the bench. Chris and Oliver ?Lionheart? Hendricks, along with baby brother, Dean Flowers, are ?nothing nice? when all three are on the field. The Juventus coaching staff has the tall task of trying to keep Orlando ?Daddy? Ramirez out of a game of this magnitude.

Reliable sources told Amandala that Ramirez may not be available for Sunday?s game because of an aggravated ankle injury. If this is indeed the case, then Kuylen has an open door to roam for Sagitun, which could cause Juventus some problems. Harry Tasher may have to guard Kuylen, and Donnie Tun would have to try and slow down Robert Muschamp.

If Tun is successful in doing that, it would free up Kevin Pelayo to roam along with Deris ?Colombia? Benavides who, if he comes out with his ?A? game, could cause massive problems for the Sagitun defenders. Another ?problem child? for Sagitun could be Oliver ?Lionheart? Hendricks, who has proven in many games that he can take on any defender one-on-one with his aggressiveness. If Oliver comes out with the heart of the lion and holds on to the ball, it would create space for Chris Hendricks, who is also aggressive.

One of the many advantages for Sagitun is if the game should go deep into the second half tied, then the Brazilian import, Moises Fernandez, becomes a factor coming off the bench. The same can be said for Dean Flowers coming off Juventus? bench. These teams are so evenly matched that it?s very hard to call at this point, but whichever wants it bad enough will have to go out and get it. The key to which one will win, has to come from the middle – ?he who controls the middle, wins.? Straight like that.