Nepal Invited To Test Azkals' Mettle

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano Araneta Jr. said yesterday Nepal, ranked No. 136 by FIFA, has been invited to play the Azkals in an exhibition match here on Oct. 9 and it will be an early preview of what to expect in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup finals in March.

Nepal is hosting the Challenge Cup finals where seven other countries are playing after a series of qualifiers. The eight teams in the finals are the Philippines, India, Maldives, North Korea, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Nepal.

Araneta said a plan for Manila to host a four-team invitational tournament has been scrapped because of conflicts with FIFA schedules. The Philippines, ranked No. 162 by FIFA, is booked to play in the Challenge Cup and the Suzuki Cup next year. The national under-23 squad, coached by Michael Weiss, will compete in the coming Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia. The PFF’s contract with Weiss expires in 2013.

Araneta confirmed that the Azkals will participate in the Long Teng Cup in Kaohsiung on Sept. 28-Oct. 6. The tournament is traditionally among host Chinese-Taipei, Macau, Hong Kong and the Philippines. But organizers are planning to expand the cast to six with invitations sent out to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. Last year, the Philippines posted a 1-1-1 record in the competition, crushing Macau, 5-0, losing to Hong Kong, 4-2, and tying with Chinese-Taipei, 1-1.

Araneta said he expects Fulham goalkeeper Neil Etheridge to fly in for the Kaohsiung tournament. The Azkals will not undergo special training for the Long Teng Cup. However, the under-23 team will set up boot camp in Kuwait or Bahrain or Japan before the SEA Games in Indonesia on Nov. 11-22.

Regarding a training program for the Azkals in Europe, Araneta said he spoke with Sen. Edgardo Angara on the phone three weeks ago about the possibility of arranging a tie-up with a Spanish club. Last year, three officials from Real Madrid were in Manila to explore a working relationship with the PFF through Sen. Angara. It was then agreed that the PFF, still under former president Mari Martinez, would get the ball rolling by formally requesting training assistance from Real Madrid. An eyewitness said the Real Madrid and PFF officials shook hands to indicate a meeting of the minds. The formal letter, however, was never sent. The protocol in such an arrangement involves a triggering letter of request from a national federation and a city-to-city agreement to cement the relationship. Martinez was eventually replaced by Araneta who said he knows nothing about the Real Madrid meeting.

Araneta said he was informed that the Barcelona Football Club is interested to look into the early history of Filipino football star Paulino Alcantara who was born in Iloilo in 1896. Alcantara was the first Filipino ever to play in Europe and made his Barcelona debut at the age of 17. He finished his football career as Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer with 357 goals in 357 matches, a record that remains unmatched and unsurpassed. Alcantara later served as Barcelona club director and Spanish national coach. He died in 1964.

“We were advised that the Spanish consul would like to visit Iloilo sometime next month and find out more about Mr. Alcantara’s beginnings, how he is revered in Iloilo,” said Araneta. “Perhaps, this could be the start of a relationship between Iloilo and Barcelona and between the Azkals and the Barcelona Football Club.”

Sen. Angara recently announced in his twitter account that the Congreso de los Diputados in Spain, headed by Jose Bono Martinez, has issued an institutional declaration affirming close ties between the Philippines and Spain. The Philippines was cited by the Spanish Congress for “unparalleled magnanimity” towards Spanish soldiers during the Siege of Baler in 1898-99. The bond linking both countries is celebrated on Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day every June 30 as decreed by the Philippine government.

As for the Azkals incentives, Araneta revealed that each player received $1,000 after the recent Sri Lanka home-and-away series. Before the home game against Kuwait, the PFF gave the Azkals $500 with the promise of a $1,000 bonus for a win and a $4,000 reward for making it into the third round of the World Cup Asia qualifiers.

Cortal, a major Azkals sponsor, also offered incentives for the home match against Kuwait – P1 Million for every goal in a win and P500,000 for every goal in a loss. As it turned out, the Philippines lost a 2-1 heartbreaker. Because of the Azkals’ lone goal in the defeat, Cortal is committed to pay out P500,000. It’s not certain if the players will get a share of the incentive. Araneta said he is not involved in the commercial aspects of marketing the Azkals and wouldn’t know if the players will receive a share or if Cortal has even paid the bonus. He said team manager Dan Palami, who has registered the Azkals trademark, is in charge of the marketing affairs. As of yesterday, a high-profile Azkals player said he had not received a share of the Cortal incentive and didn’t know if the players would be given by Palami.

Araneta said the PFF grossed over P20 Million in ticket sales for the Sri Lanka and Kuwait matches at the Rizal Memorial. “We were told La Salle spends about P900,000 a year to maintain the pitch and we’re grateful to La Salle for transforming it into a world-class field,” he said. “We’re offering to pay half the maintenance costs as we know La Salle spent over P8 Million to rehabilitate the pitch and we’ll be making extensive use of it. We still have a lot to do in sprucing up Rizal, like cleaning up the restrooms in the gallery section. The unmoving clock on the giant scoreboard is an eyesore and we’ve had to rent two electronic scoreboards for the recent matches. We hope the Philippine Sports Commission will consider replacing the giant clock scoreboard with a digital system.”

By Joaquin Henson

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 

Azkals Join 2012 Challenge Cup In Nepal

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals will be flying to Nepal in April next year for the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup tournament proper.

This is after Nepal won the bid to host the Challenge Cup. According to My Republica.com, the AFC has already advised All-Nepal Football Association (ANFA) to meet all the criteria for hosting the Asian event.

Nepal won the hosting rights over Maldives and Palestine.

The tournament is likely to take place at the Dasharath Stadium, the biggest stadium in Nepal.

Built in 1956, the 55-year-old stadium has a seating capacity of 5,000, but can hold up to 25,000 spectators.

Joining the Philippines and Nepal are finalists Palestine, India, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Tajikistan and defending champion North Korea.

The Philippine Azkals qualified for the Final 8 of the Challenge Cup by beating the Bangladesh Bengal Tigers last March. 

So Where Do The PH Azkals Football Really Stand?

Excited Football fans, endlessly thrilled despite that humbling defeat by the Philipine Azkals to Kuwait, are also asking another question. Where do their newfound sports heroes actually stand? Of course, the Azkals deserved all the applause for the gallant battle they waged against powerhouse Kuwait at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last week. But without meaning to dampen enthusiasm, there were other observers here at home who felt the Kuwaitis were not properly appreciated.

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Why?

For one, there were post-game reports that the gifted Kuwaitis were seen enjoying intimate moments with comely Filipino entertainers at the Sofitel, while the Azkals were deep in final training for that crucial game. Which could only mean that, contrary to earlier reports, the Kuwaitis had never been seriously bothered by the Azkals, which they blanked, 3-0, in their homeground. “Kuwait showed a lot of class last Thursday—they are No. 95 and we are 162nd in the Fifa rankings of July 27,” informed premier national sports statistician Joseph Dumuk, now retired in La Union.

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That was definitely a demotion, Dumuk said, adding that, it more than showed how far the Philippines has lagged and the Kuwaitis showed how much harder we have to work in order to advance. “To give you an idea,” Dumuk said, “where our neighbors stand: THA 119, SIN 131, INA 137, VIE 144 and MAS 146.” He added that the top teams in Asia are: Japan 16, South Korea 28, Iran 54, People’s Republic of China 73, Qatar, 90, Jordan 91, Saudi Arabia 92.

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He asked: Can you imagine the resources we need in order to break into the Top 100? Dumuk did not say it, but he definitely felt that it would take more than the current tact of taking in talented foreigners with Filipino lineage to the national squad in order to hit the dream goal. Indeed, the Azkals, with their current worth, have surpassed themselves by firing up football enthusiasm hereabouts. But, as cold-bloodedly demonstrated by the Kuwaitis at the Rizal Memorial field, we need more than the current momentum in order to fully redeveloped football in the Philippines. The Azkals and their great results are, at best, products of a commendable crash program.

***

But you need not be a sports development expert to know that, more than instant popularity, there’s the crying need to honestly upgrade game standards here at home. And this can’t be done by one sector, or one person alone, as in the case of the amiable national team manager Dan Palami. The game against Kuwait clearly showed that while our players were often frantically sprinting, the visitors would just strut, if not stroll, in full control. The Philippines, no doubt, is light years behind Kuwait in the area of native football pedigree. OK, the Azkals will continue to be great in their own right for now. But manager Palami cannot deny how he dreams of one day handling an All-Filipino team that could match dribbling and dancing wits with world-class talents like the homegrown Kuwaitis, home or away, rain or shine.

By Recah Trinidad

Azkals-Kuwait Opening Game in Peril?

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO
MANILA, Philippines — The Kuwait Football Association (KFA) has threatened to pull out its national team from the 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament following a dispute with its government over funding, according to newspaper reports.

Quoting the non-English daily newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, the Arab Times reported Wednesday that KFA chairman Sheikh Talal Al-Fahd made the threat after the Kuwaiti government stopped supporting the association.

Reached for reaction, Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said he doesn’t think the Kuwaitis will forfeit their match against the Azkals which starts on July 23 (July 24 in Manila) at the Qadisiya Sports Club in Hawally.

The second match is set five days later at the Rizal Memorial stadium.

The Azkals have set up training camp in Bahrain to prepare for their second round match against the Al-Azraq, Kuwait’s monicker.

Meanwhile, the International Football Federation (FIFA), football’s highest governing body, deferred action on the PFF’s appeal with regards to the suspension of Aly Borromeo and Stephan Schrock.

FIFA said it cannot act on the appeal without the endorsement of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)..

Borromeo, the Azkals skipper, and Fil-German Shrock, an important piece in the midfield, are barred from playing in the first leg against Kuwait after getting their second yellow cards during home match against Sri Lanka in the first round nearly two weeks ago.

Two yellow cards merit automatic suspension.

The AFC had earlier told the PFF to lodge the appeal before the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

But FIFA, in a letter signed by Mark Caballero, head of the Discipline and Governance Committee, said the appeal should come from the governing confederation.

“What we’ll try to do is write AFC again, and hopefully we can get their endorsement,” Araneta said.

Unlike the Azkals who had to overcome Sri Lanka in the first round, Al-Azraq, a Middle East power is seeded in the second round.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss admits the team will be a heavy underdog, but promised to pull off an upset against the 10-time Gulf Cup champions who made it to the World Cup finals in 1982

PFF Appeals Azkals' Suspension

By Olmin Leyba (The Philippine Star

Manila, Philippines - Still keeping its hope up that the suspension on Azkals Aly Borromeo and Stephan Schrock will be lifted for their July 23 match with Kuwait, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) made a renewed appeal to the International Football Federation (Fifa) through theAsian Football Confederation (AFC).

This after Filipino officials got a letter from Fifa director of legal affairs Marco Villiger and head of disciplinary governance Marc Cavaliero, telling them that Fifa couldn’t act on appeal yet since it was filed by the PFF instead of a confederation, in this case, the AFC.

“According to Fifa, it should be the AFC that should make the appeal. So we already wrote the AFC, through general secretary Alex Soosay, to appeal on our behalf, and they said they will endorse it to the Fifa,” PFF president Nonong Araneta told The STAR yesterday.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed (that the said penalties won’t be carried over in the second round against Kuwait),” Araneta added.

The PFF is asking the Fifa for consideration on the two cumulative yellow cards slapped on Borromeo and Schrock in the first round of the 2014 Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers against Sri Lanka. The subsequent one-game ban has left a huge hole in the Azkals’ midfield against second round rival Kuwait in their away leg on July 23.

“Kuwait isn’t subject to some risk of sanctions since they did not play in the first round like us. They would field an intact lineup and it would be fair for us if we’ll be able to field an intact lineup, too,” Araneta said.

While awaiting Fifa’s action on their appeal, Borromeo and the rest of Azkals left for Manama, Bahrain yesterday via Hong Kong for their final buildup for the Kuwait series.

The Azkals are scheduled to play two friendlies against Bahrain’s under-23 Olympic squad tonight at the National Stadium in Riffa and Monday night at the Muharraq Club stadium in Arad.

“Bahrain will be the ultimate test. We don’t have so much luxury of time, we’ll be going to Kuwait on 20th. We have to work on our game in general,” Azkals coach Michael Weiss said in a TV interview on the eve of their departure.