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

Azkals Prepare for 'Hot' Kuwait

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals will fly to Bahrain on Friday to begin their acclimatization process for their away game against Kuwait.

The Philippine team hopes that a few days training in Bahrain will help them get used to the scorching heat in Kuwait, where temperatures can go as high as 45 degrees Celsius.

The Azkals will have 2 friendly games in Bahrain, which is also among Asia’s football powerhouses.

“I'm excited, I've never been there,” said Azkals’ Nate Burkey. “I'm curious to see the country, what it would be like. Just ready to get focused on this game.”

The team’s conditioning coach already prepared things that they would need to help the Azkals get used to the heat in the Middle East.

“We're preparing icebags, sprays and sunglasses.... lahat,” said Joseph Malinay, the Philippine team’s conditioning coach.

Filipino-foreigners who were not present during the first phase of the Azkals’ training, like Neil Etheridge, Ray Jonsson and Rob Gier, will join the squad in Bahrain.

Azkals midfielder Jason de Jong is hopeful that they can pull off an upset even in hostile territory.

“You’ll never know. The ball's round... the last time we went to Suzuki Cup, they said we cannot beat Vietnam, but we beat them 2-0. So you never know,” he said.

The Azkals' away game versus the Kuwaiti Al-Azraq (The Blue) will take place at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium, Hawalli on July 23.

This will be followed by the home game at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on July 28.

Kuwait is 102nd in the FIFA world rankings while the Philippines is 159th. – With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

World Cup Qualifiers: Philippine Azkals draw Sri Lanka Brave Reds

By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Photo by AP

COLOMBO—A resilient Philippine side fought back to salvage a 1-1 stalemate against Sri Lanka Wednesday in the first leg of their opening round World Cup qualifying match at the Sugathadasa Stadium here.

Substitute Nate Burkey, making his debut for the Philippines, headed home James Younghusband’s saved header in the 50th minute to give the Azkals a precious away goal heading to the second leg in Manila on Sunday.

An away goal will only count if a two-leg series ends up tied on aggregate, meaning a scoreless draw will be enough for the Azkals to go through to the next round against Kuwait.

Playing their first World Cup qualifying match in 10 years, the Azkals fell behind on the 43rd minute when Pordi Chathura’s 20-yard free kick beat a diving Neil Etheridge to his right.

It was an eerie reminder of the late equalizing goal that the Azkals yielded to Myanmar in the AFC Challenge Cup in March.

After a quiet opening half, the Azkals, egged on by about 200 Filipino supporters in the stadium, came alive in the last 45 minutes, keeping the Sri Lankans on their heels.

Stephan Schrock, making his Philippine debut, was an influential figure at central midfield and his passing constantly opened up the Sri Lankan defense.

But except for Burkey’s goal, the Azkals lacked the clinical finishing touch to punish the Sri Lankans, who refused to back down, making the match a rugged affair.

One such incident came in the 18th minute when Phil Younghusband was fouled by midfield enforcer Fazlur, triggering a scuffle in the middle of the field.

James Younghusband and  got yellow cards in the aftermath of the incident. The Azkals had two other yellow cards – Schrock and skipper Aly Borromeo – who were booked for mistimed challenges.

Phil Younghusband had two glorious early chances saved by Manjula Fernando in the first half, before the Filipino-British striker was substituted by Burkey in the 40th minute for what looked like a hamstring injury.

Putting more pressure on the Sri Lankans immediately after the restart, the Azkals were rewarded with Burkey’s scrappy goal.

Chieffy Caligdong, the only homegrown player in the starting lineup, floated a long free kick into the area that was met by James Younghusband, whose header looked to have crossed the line.

Amid the confusion, Burkey was quickest to react and he banged it home for the equalizer.

Schrock, a standout rightback playing for Greuther Furth in the German second division, was still proving dangerous with the ball and his effort from just outside the box just went wide in the 60th minute.

Another chip pass from Schrock offered substitute Ian Araneta with a late scoring chance, but the Air Force striker managed a weak effort that was easily saved by Manjula.

Just when everyone thought the Sri Lankans were playing for a draw, the hosts managed to conjure one more chance when Nimal fired a bristling shot that draw an impressive reflex save from Etheridge in the first minute of injury time.

The Azkals arrive in Manila Thursday night, leaving them with two full days to prepare for the rematch against the South Asians.

THE AZKALS FRUSTRATED YET TO WIN A WORLD CUP GAME: PHILIPPINES 1-1 SRI LANKA

Posted by Roy on June 29, 2011 

(The Philippine Contingent (photo by Craig Burrows)

The anticipation before the match suddenly changed into fear and then relief as the Philippines watched their side go behind against Sri Lanka before equalising to salvage something from the game. The Philippines are left to look at Sunday as their last chance for a first win in the World Cup as they repeated the score of their last World Cup Qualifying outing in 2001.

Cathura's free-kick put Sri Lanka ahead (photo by Craig Burrows)

Cathura’s deflected free-kick put the Sri Lankans ahead in the 41^st minute. The ball was deflected off the wall to agonisingly beat Neil Etheridge in goal just before half-time. The Azkals started the second half much brighter, though, a Chieffy Caligdong free-kick looked to have crossed the line already before substitute Nate Burkey put it back into the goal to equalise and set up a tense finale in the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Sunday.

The game started quite evenly. The Sri Lankans played quite deep and threatened with quick counter-attacks surprising the Philippine defence. Schrock in particular looked threatening in central midfield as he dynamically burst past several players at once on more than one occasion. His final ball, however, didn’t quite reach its intended recipient. The story of the first half was the clear fatigue of the players. Phil Younghusband pulled up numerous times before being substituted for Nate Burkey early on while Angel Guirado was clearly not fully fit and rarely broke into full stride.

This limitation allowed the Sri Lankans to get more of the ball when Philippine attacks broke down though their main chance of the half came when a ball over the top was blocked by Etheridge who couldn’t gather it completely, but the resulting shot looped over. Etheridge was called into several routine saves though when players got free and blasted at the goal but each time the Sri Lankan players hit straight at the Fulham goalkeeper.

The Philippines by contrast had several chances, mainly through Chieffy Caligdong’s crosses and Stephan Schrock’s dominant display in the midfield. Schrock eventually won man of the match for his performance and is perhaps the Philippines’ best positive from the match. The Philippines played with their hearts on their sleeves for the first-half, James Younghusband particularly was passionate, sometimes too passionate, and was awarded a yellow card for his protests. Contesting a foul on his brother, Phil Younghusband, the player jumped into a Sri Lankan crowd and sent tempers flaring for a short while, though he did have a good game down the right flank, working the ball well for the Philippines. Their best chance of the first half came when a Chieffy corner was first only just missed by Angel Guirado then headed wide by Aly Borromeo who dived but couldn’t quite get the connection needed.

Then Sri Lanka were awarded a free-kick about twenty yards from goal. Chathura ran up and clipped the ball towards goal, cheering as it struck Rob Gier to take it out of the reach of the despairing Neil Etheridge. The Fulham goalkeeper produced a solid display throughout the game but the result overshadows those performances.

The Azkals started better in the second half, as per the Dan Palami theory, and pressed the game immediately. Their

efforts were rewarded quickly as they won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Chieffy looped the ball in and James Younghusband seemed to glance the ball before it crossed the line. The ball bounced out and Nate Burkey knocked it back in to make sure and after some confusion the goal was awarded to Nate Burkey who trended on Twitter, at one point reaching fourth in the world on Twitter, Chieffy just one place behind at fifth.

There were several chances to win the game as from then on the Azkals continued to press for a winner but Sri Lanka’s deep defensive line kept them out most of the time. The threat of a Sri Lankan counter-attack showed when their striker Kaiz got through on several occasions, first hitting straight at Etheridge before later blatantly diving in an effort to win a penalty. Etheridge produced a good save late on as Sri Lankan substitute Nilman struck from the edge of the area forcing the keeper to palm behind for a corner.

The Philippines had their own chances to win the game, Angel Guirado striking wide a couple of times in a performance which really showed he was struggling from the tough schedule and with the injury on his right leg. That he wasn’t substituted early is a bit of mystery as the goalscorer Nate Burkey was replaced instead, giving Ian Araneta the chance to shine. As is so common with him, he almost made an immediate impact as Stephan Schrock played a magnificent lobbed through ball to the Air Force striker who controlled and forced a good save out of the Sri Lankan goalkeeper Manjula.

Questions will be asked about the Philippines but it must be remembered that after a tough training camp they are still on top for the next leg and to make it into the next round. A crucial away goal actually means the Philippines would qualify on the away goals rule if the scores remain the same but he Philippines are certainly looking for a win.

After the game Coach Weiss said “On this pitch they [Sri Lanka] play very physical… I think we were superior and if we had scored first the game would have been over.” Perhaps on some level the Philippines had grown too confident as he later remarked that “at this level you should never estimate an opponent and that was a big mistake.” Somewhat philosophically the German coach ended by saying “I’m not the happiest man in the world but I’m not too disappointed… we take the result as it is and prepare for the match on Sunday”. The German coach has already strengthed the Philippines squad significantly and the Philippine nation can trust that paired with Dan Palami the two of them can fashion a strong performance and a great result on Friday in front of a huge Philippine crowd.

Attendance at this game is roughly estimated to be at 4,000 with maybe 1,000 Filipinos making it it to the stadium to cheer on the team. They were heard throughout and really represented their country well as the team look forward to the next game. The Sri Lankan coach joked after the game that “the man of the match? Maybe the coach” as it was his tactical decisions which fashioned the draw for the underdogs.

The Philippines still have a great chance of qualification but as usual seem to be leaving it until the last minute before showing the performance they’re capable of. Like the two draws in the AFC Challenge Cup against Burma and Palestine tension is building for the final match… the whole nation now is hoping the Philippines can produce a similar performance against Sri Lanka as they did against Bangladesh when they won 3-0.

The seriousness of Phil’s injury is unknown, though, as Coach Weiss said “I don’t know how serious it is yet… it is a big setback to change our biggest striker. Hopefully he can play on Sunday”. The Philippines can remain optimistic though as Araneta looked sharp and wants to play and with other options the Philippines remain favourites. Still, the country believes in the team and looks ahead to the next game. There may be disappointment at not reaching the heights predicted before the game but the Philippines are still on top heading into the return leg. Remember to send your support to the Azkals, comment with your questions and hopes and share the news: Azkals we believe!

Man of the match: Stephan Schrock For an interview with Schrock, before the game, click here

Written by Roy Moore