UFL Cup: Global, Kaya Tap Members Of Azkals

MANILA — Bracing for what could be the most competitive season yet in the United Football League, Global FC and Kaya FC have tapped members of the Philippine football team to beef up their roster for the UFL Cup kicking off Oct. 2.

Global, the defending UFL Cup champion, snapped up Fil-Spanish striker Angel Aldeguer Guirado to strengthen its squad that already includes Azkals forward Misagh Bahadoran.

Already formidable with Azkals skipper Aly Borromeo and defender Anton del Rosario in the fold, Kaya FC shored up its defensive line with the acquisition of Jason Sabio and added more attacking teeth by tapping Nate Burkey.

Kaya has also hired former national team mentor Juan Cutillas as head coach.

“The competition will be very strong this season,” said Football Alliance chair Santi Araneta, who also owns Kaya FC.

“We expect better quality and exciting games.”

Araneta said talks with a television network are near completion to pave the way for the UFL games to be aired live for the first time in history.

“This will change the landscape of Philippine football,” said Araneta.

The 26-year-old Guirado has been without a club since last June after his contract with CD Ronda in the Spanish third division expired.

Guirado, who agreed in principle to join the team after meeting with manager Dan Palami, sees playing in the UFL as an opportunity to help raise the profile of the fledgling league, which has been riding high on the success of the Azkals.

“I am happy with the direction of the team that Mr. Palami is putting up,” Guirado said through his cousin and interpreter, Rafa Garcia.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed and Guirado said this was only secondary when he made his decision.

“What’s important is I could help and be able to experience playing in the Philippines,” said Guirado, who has already scored three goals in five matches for the Azkals.

By Cedelf P. Tupas

Some Girls Dream, I Just Went Shopping With The Azkals

Simon, Misagh, Rob, Miguel, Anton, & Nate

It’s probably every girl’s dream come true to be given gift certificates to buy anything in a shop, while members of the Philippine Azkals team stand by to assist. If the shopping money is for Health and Beyond, a health supplement specialty store, and we are still referring to the Philippine Azkals, that girl would not entirely be me. Maybe it’s Bea Robles, the handpicked teenage fan pulled into VIP during the meet and greet event of Health and Beyond because she was screaming heartfelt “I love you’s” to the players from outside the store without shame. Tears swelled in her eyes and her cheeks blushed like a tomato when organizers finally said, “Okay, you! You can come in,” and suddenly she said, “OMG, I’m shy na!” Unable to muster up the same courage to profess her admiration for the hunky men apparently.

Even though the Azkals didn’t snag their win against Kuwait, countrymen were supportive. It was not like it was the greatest upset the country has seen. In fact, they were able to accomplish a feat in itself by providing, if even for a while, some glimmer of hope that we had our chance at the World Cup. It’s just too bad people forgot that Kuwait is a pretty strong team. It would have been quite an upset to win against Kuwait.

What do we know about the Azkals, besides coming into the country, dashingly good looking with promises that this half-Filipino team will make it somewhere? Even while their claim to fame carried a somewhat politically-offensive name (azkals derives from the term asong kalye, meaning half-breed or mongrel), to be frank, it was their ruggedly handsome charm that made them the stars they are today.

Defender Rob Gier and Me

So when not training on the fields defending the Philippine flag, the Azkals mostly do a lot of “being celebrities.” Which is why a day after their game with Kuwait, some members of the Azkals team were at a meet-and-greet function in Health and Beyond to promote living an active and healthy lifestyle. Special guests were given P2,000 each worth of shopping money to buy anything from the store, while the Azkals, dressed in employee Health and Beyond shirts, smiled for screaming fans and stood around to take questions. Present at the event were midfielders Nate Burkey and Simon Greatwich, defenders Rob Gier and Anton del Rosario and striker Misagh Bahadoran.

Health and Beyond has a wide variety of food supplements for health buffs, top-quality vitamins and even products addressing sports nutrition. I go home with some handy vitamin C and echinacea, seeing as my lifestyle is neither healthy nor active. President of Health and Beyond Miguel Garcia, an avid fan of football (he insists on using the term football as opposed to soccer), has been following the sport long before the Azkals even came into the picture. Riding on the growing love the country has for the sport and for the Azkals, he put two and two together and decided the Azkals would be as the perfect faces to endorse Health and Beyond. “Health and Beyond is about nutrition, proper diet, taking care of your bodies in whatever lifestyle you are in. And I think that the Azkals embody that because they are professional athletes. I saw the relationship and thought, what’s better than getting the Azkals to endorse Health and Beyond?” Miguel adds that even if you are not an active person, Health and Beyond carries products that will help people in the office overcome stress.

When the crowd begins to dissipate and the event comes to an end, guests are leaving with bottles of this and that health supplements, a few herbal teas, some protein bars, and that overpriced bracelet that claims to have energy. What’s in store for the Azkals now? Probably, when not in intensive vigorous training, they will continue to embody idyllic forms of what we all want, or want to be—healthy, fit and damn sexy.

By Kara Ortiga 

Azkals Say No To Showbiz

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Azkals strikers Rob Gier, Anton del Rosario, Simon Greatwich, Nate Burkey and Misagh Bahadoran have no interest in joining show business for now.

In an interview by “Showbiz News Ngayon” taped July 30 after they appeared on “Happy Yipee Yehey” and aired Aug. 2, Gier said, “I'm just enjoying and concentrating on being Azkals at the moment.”

Bahadoran echoed Gier’s sentiment by simply saying, “I just wanna be [an] Azkals player.”

For his part, Greatwich reasoned, “I'm really quite shy and stuff so we're just trying to keep it low key.”

The five football players were in the noontime “Happy Yipee Yehey” last Saturday as contestants of the game, “Tanging Hinga Mo.”

Gier, who emerged the winner, described their guest stint as “a fun experience.” According to the “SNN” report, Gier became a worldwide trending topic on the microblogging site Twitter that day.

“I was really enjoyed by ‘Happy Yipee Yehey,’” Bahadoran expressed.

On the other hand, Burkey said, “It was a lot of fun. A bit disappointed with my performance, though, but it was fun!”

After competing against Sri Lanka and Kuwait in their unsuccessful bid at the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the Azkals are on vacation and will resume training soon for their upcoming matches. In an interview, Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta Jr. said that in September, the Azkals would be competing in the four-team Long Teng Cup in Taiwan.

More, in October, the team will participate in the four-nation invitational competition hosted by the PFF and sponsored by Asia Brewery Inc.

Lastly, in November, the Azkals will compete in the men's football competition of the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.

Thanking their supporters, Greatwich asked them in the same "SNN" interview to “Continue to cheer us on.”

Del Rosario expressed, “Thank you very much for all your support. We wouldn't be here without you guys. Keep on supporting.”

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

Palami: Azkals Need New Blood

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine national football team manager Dan Palami said the Azkals are not getting any younger and will need to replenish their lineup for future competitions.

Palami, who appeared on ANC’s Hardball sports show, cited as an example the Azkals' first defensive unit.

“We have Ray Jonsson, who is about 32; we have Rob Gier, who is 30 years old; we have Aly [Borromeo], 28; and Anton [del Rosario] is 29. So we really need to replenish the back 4,” he said.

Although the team's veterans still have a lot of playing years ahead of them, Palami said the team needs younger footballers who will fill their boots.

More foreign-trained players

He added that while the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is building up the country’s grassroots program, the team management is scouting more overseas-based players who can potentially help the Azkals in future tournaments.

“We are concurrently trying to get the interest of good players outside the Philippines and get them to play for us,” he said.

Palami admitted that it is too early for the Azkals to rely solely on local players.

“In fact when I started managing the team, the first thing I did was to look for locally based players,” he said.

“Unfortunately, our grassroots program had been dormant for a few decades so it will take a while before we get locals. [But] it will probably happen in 4 years,” added Palami.

Among the European-based players reportedly eyed by the team management is Alphonse Areola, an 18-year-old goalkeeper who currently plays for the Paris Saint-Germain football club in France.

by Dennis Gasgonia