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 Set Sights On SEAG, AFC

MANILA, Philippines - Its FIFA World Cup dream dashed for now, the Philippines shifts its aspirations to the next big competitions in the region – the Southeast Asian Games in November for the Under-23 team and the AFC Challenge Cup next year for the Azkals senior’s side.

Taking off from the Azkals’ breakthrough second-round stint in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) looks to win a first-ever medal in the SEAG in Indonesia, setting training camps abroad to hone up the squad.

“Coach Michael Weiss has already submitted a program so we’ll just be going to discuss the budget. There will be two camps abroad for the U-23. One in the Middle East and if the situation in Japan has already normalized, then we want to go to Japan,” PFF president Nonong Araneta said.

Some of the younger Azkals like Jason de Jong, Simon Greatwich and Manuel Ott will reinforce the U-23 side, boosting Phl’s drive to break into the medal picture in men’s football for the very first time in the biennial meet.

“We will definitely vie, work for that medal. We have a good chance, we’ve a good team and I think with the camp that we’re planning, with the training we’re preparing, the team will go a long way,” said Araneta.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge of Fulham is eligible at age 21, but he’s non-committal for the SEAG campaign as of now.

“I’m not sure (if I’ll be available). I still have to check my schedule (in England),” said the Fil-Britisth Azkals star.

Weiss said he will bring some of the youngsters with the Azkals senior team when they compete in the Long Teng Cup in Kaohsiung, Taiwan Sept. 28-Oct. 6 “to test their readiness for the SEA Games.” After this, an intensive four-week training is up, highlighted by camps in Dubai and Bahrain.

The Long Teng will also start off the Azkals’ buildup for the AFC Challenge Cup from March 3-8, 2012. The winner qualifies for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup finals, Asia’s premiere football meet where reigning champ Japan and powerhouses Australia and South Korea are already seeded.

“The Azkals’ main forcus will be the AFC Challenge Cup eight months from now. We’ll be trying to go directly to the Asian Cup so for this one, we have to get all players ready,” said Weiss.

The Azkals will take a monthlong break after their 1-5 loss to fancied Kuwait in the World Cup prelims, including a 1-2 heartbreaker at the Rizal pitch.

“This is an achievement even if we lost twice to Kuwait,” Weiss said. “We’re in a growing process and the team can only learn from these experiences.”

By Olmin Leyba (The Philippine Star)