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

Palami: Azkals Willing To Play Friendly Vs. Cebu

THE Philippine national football team gears up for another challenge when it faces neighboring countries in the Long Teng Cup at Kaoshiong, Chinese Taipei on Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.

Team manager Dan Palami said the national team will take on the host, Macau and Hong Kong’s under-23 team and possibly Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia after the three nations were invited by the organizers.

Palami said the Azkals lineup will be a mixed selection of senior players and under-23 members depending on the availability of players.

Most of the members of the senior team are on a one-month break and the players are scheduled to gather in the third week of August.

After the Long Teng Cup, the under-23 players will be back in the Philippines to train for the Southeast Asian Games, while the senior team will be bound for the Middle East to play against Gulf countries.

“”We are still arranging the games for the friendly. There still no definite country yet,” said Palami.

Aside from the matches outside the country, the Philippine team is tentatively booked to play a friendly against Nepal on Oct. 9.

There are also negotiations for a friendly game against Pakistan and India.

Palami said that all the friendly games will be played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium since the pitch at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod needs to be improved.

Palami mentioned that his team will be open to playing in an exhibition match with the Cebuano selection team upon invitation of Ricky Ballesteros for friendly game after the rehabilitation of the football field of the Cebu City Sports Center.

“Of course we want to, we’re interested. But there should be a good venue because it’s very different to schedule events if walang venue,” Palami said.

By Cheska D. Geli 

Busy Azkals aim for berth in Asian Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Once the Philippine Azkals get back into training later this month, the team will have its hands full trying to capture a slot in the AFC Asian Cup, the next big thing after the Fifa World Cup, while attempting to climb in the world rankings.

“Bringing home the AFC Challenge Cup next year, that’s our immediate goal because that will ensure our participation in the Asian Cup in 2015,” Azkals manager Dan Palami said.

The Azkals have qualified to the main draw of the AFC Challenge Cup on March 3-18 in Nepal along with Palestine, India, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Tajikistan, North Korea, and the hosts. Winner of the tournament will earn a ticket to the 2015 Asian Cup where 2011 champion Japan, host Australia, and Korea are seeded.

Palami said the Asian Cup is big for the Azkals, who failed in their recent effort to reach the 2014 Fifa World Cup after losing to powerhouse Kuwait in the second round, 5-1, on goal aggregate.

“It (Asian Cup) is not akin to the World Cup but the hype and excitement will be at level of World Cup also,” he said.

While preparing for the Asian Cup-qualifying Challenge Cup, the Azkals also look to improve on their current 162nd standing in the Fifa world rankings.

“Our intention right now is to play as many international friendlies as possible to improve our FIFA rankings,” Palami said.

For this, the Azkals are arranging friendly matches against India or Pakistan and around three countries in the Gulf region in between their participation in next month’s Long Teng Cup in Chinese Taipei.                                

By Olmin Leyba  

Azkals Prepare For Hectic Schedule

MANILA, Philippines — In an effort to improve the Philippine football team’s world ranking, team manager Dan Palami said they plan to play four superior teams in friendly matches beginning next month.

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has set aside dates from Sept. 27 to Oct. 11 for international friendly matches, and Palami said they will take advantage of it by playing three senior national teams from the Gulf region before hosting a game against either India or Pakistan at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Manila game is tentatively set Oct. 11.

“Our intention right now is to play as many friendlies as possible so our rankings can go up,” said Palami who hosted a dinner for the newly-formed Azkals Press Corps on Thursday.

The Azkals are ranked 162nd while India is at 153rd and Pakistan 171st.

Palami said a selection from the Under-23 pool preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in the Indonesia in November will join the Azkals during the friendly matches “so that they will have more international exposures.”

Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta Jr. had earlier said the Azkals will be at full strength during these international exhibition matches since Filipino-foreign players will be released by their professional clubs in Europe.

Before the friendly matches, the Azkals, alongside a selection from the SEA Games pool, are set to compete in the Long Teng Cup, a four-nation competition set Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 in Taiwan.

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO

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