Azkals Manage Sensitivities

Philippine Azkals manager Dan Palami is off, with Brussels, Belgium as the first stop on a working tour of Europe, searching for more football players of Filipino lineage to lure to the national cause. Some of the veteran Fil-foreign players on the Azkals are playing bigger roles with their mother clubs in Europe, and are going to be less available as the seasons wear on. Some of them may not even be released by their pro teams, at all.

When asked how he was going to attract these players, and if the job was easier now with the team’s relative fame, Palami had a standard-issue answer.

“What’s my pitch going to be? It’s going to be the same as it was with guys like Rob Gier, when nobody knew – or cared – about the Azkals,” explained Palami. “It’s a chance to play for flag and country.”

What the general public does not realize (particularly those who have biases against the inclusion of “half-Filipino” players), is that it is often a great financial sacrifice for these young men to come to the Philippines at the cost of jobs with limited slots in the soccer hotbeds in Europe. Some of our players receive $10,000-$20,000 salaries to play professionally in Europe, which is no mere pittance. Yet, many of them have risked their professional careers and taken leaves of absence to suit up for matches wearing the Philippine flag.

Managing sensitivities on the issue of race is also something the Philippine Football Federation is now conscious of. Bear in mind that the huge sums being given as sponsorship money to the Azkals actually go to the coffers of the PFF for grassroots development. With the sport’s development having been “dormant for decades” as Palami says, it will “take four years” or so before we develop another Chieffy Caligdong. In the meantime, the team needs the technology transfer and seasoned talent of Fil-foreign players who are willing to don the flag.

There are a lot of big tournaments awaiting the Azkals, who are also part of the United Football League individually, and to some extent, members of the Under-23 team. The Southeast Asian Games involves the younger Azkals, while the Suzuki Cup and AFC are slated for next year. These major tournaments coincide with breaks in major European leagues, as FIFA avoided the overlap between national and club teams. In the meantime, there are more diamonds in the rough home and away, waiting to be discovered.

THE GAME OF MY LIFE By Bill Velasco