Well done, Azkals!

I had wanted to catch the Azkals’ game againts Bhutan last Saturday afternoon on Solar Sports. The scheduled 3:30 live telecast came and went but a badminton game was having airtime. By 4:30, I got dizzy watching all those shuttlecocks walloped back and forth.

Maybe the station did a delayed telecast later in the evening but I was not able to catch it as my chosen vocation demands that I have to mingle and socialize. Anyway, it would have been nice seeing the Azkals go rabid on Bhutan with a 3-0 win at Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, the one and the only football hotbed in the country.

I caught the Azkals’ first two games. We could have won by a mile againts Brunei had the weather cooperated. The 1-0 score could have been 5-0 at least with four beautifully aimed and uncontested shots that found the crossbar instead of the back of the net.

The Tajikistan game was rough, tough and full of dramatics. The 0-0 draw was already a big achievement considering that the Tajiks were more experienced and are the defending champions. They are also ranked #155, 34 notches higher than us in the FIFA World rankings.

Because the Tajiks had a plus 2 goal difference on us despite having the same standings as them, they qualified for the AFC Challenge Cup to be played in India. The Azkals made very good showing especially Ali Borromeo who was superb in defense and Barotac’s very own Chieffy Caligdong who made magic with his left foot. Neal Etheridge was imposing between the posts. The Young husbands, Chad Gould and Chris Greatwich performed as expected. The rest of the guys did their part well.

The Philippine Football Federation planned to send the Azkals to London for further training had they qualified for the AFC Cup in India. Word is that PFF big boss might cancel the trip. In my own limited view of this beautiful game, I say we go ahead with the plan. The training and the facilities and the resulting friendly matches with English clubs will do wonders for the Azkals. If we wish to make good in the coming ASEAN championships scheduled later this year, then PFF should push thru with the London trip. The Filipino community there would be more than happy to support the team.

Now, of all the monickers, why Azkals? As we all know, this term is a contraction of “asong kalye”, that generic mongrel that help describe and identify our streets. It’s basically a street dog that actually has a home. Those unfortunate canines having no master to come home to usually end up chopped and swimming in boiling tomato sauce and pineapple juice.

Anyway, the name had its origin back in the summer of 2005 when the local football scene was invaded by Fil-foreigns. While the team was taking shape, on-line forums were also busy discussing what nickname to call the national team. Among an animal farm of names submitted, a blogger suggested “askal” and the rest, as usual, is history.

Possesing the traits of a street dog, the Filipino footballer is loyal, agressive, resilient, resourceful and is a survivor, no matter what the odds. That is the askal. Bisan malatayan na og multicab, paghot lang gihapon.

With blue and red as the national team’s official colors, the ‘S’ was changed to ‘Z’, thus Azkal can also mean Kalye Azul or Blue Alley.

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Tonight I will try to sleep early with the hope of getting up at 2am tomorrow to catch Manchester United play Chelsea FC for the EUFA Champions Cup in Moscow. It’s a first in the history of the Cup that two English clubs fight for European football supremacy. Go Man U!

E-mail at bobbytoohotty@lycos.com or mailto:[email protected]