The Azkals

The victory of the Philippine national football team a.k.a. the Azkals over Vietnam in their group match last Sunday night for the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup was a historical event for the sport in our country.

After having long been tagged as the minnows of Southeast Asian football, the Philippines pulled out a huge upset against the host and defending champion.

The last time the Philippines registered a win in the tournament was against the then newly-independent Timor Leste several years ago. It wasn’t even an easy win.

Against Vietnam last Sunday, the Filipinos broke the defense of the Vietnamese thanks to a header by Chris Greatwich that the Vietnam goalkeeper misjudged.

Although down by a goal, Vietnam was in control of the match and I could not sit down while watching the game in the small TV set perched several feet above the floor of the editorial department of our office.

Vietnam actually had several chances to level the count, but the Philippine defense seemed to always manage to get its acts together at the most crucial moment.

In the second half, there were two clear chances, but the first went kaput and then minutes later Phil Younghusband found the back of the net to give the Azkals a comfortable 2-0 advantage with more 10 minutes left to play.

When the final whistle was sounded after an extra four minutes plus of injury time, the Azkals scored what could be the country’s biggest win in football in recent history.

While I was happy to see the Philippine team win, I was saddened at the fact that I was all by my lonesome when I watched the game. If it were basketball, there would probably be three or even more who’d join me and watch the action.

When news of the victory spread like a viral Youtube video, it was kind of funny to hear and see the news anchors look a bit confused about the whole thing.

Football may have gained so much ground the past decade here in our country, but many still consider it as alien as an extra terrestrial particularly politicians, who think that having a sports program is donating balls, uniforms, or trophies for a basketball tournament. 

Though that win last weekend and another hopefully tonight against Myanmar would be very good news for football in this country, it would still be asking too much from our leaders to get them to understand what potential we have in this sport.

Forget about the usual spiels about a sport that doesn’t require height when we try to bash basketball. In football, height may not be necessary, but it could also serve as an advantage for certain positions like that of a goalkeeper.

The Azkals are a combination of several locally-developed players as well as Fil-foreigners, mostly with British fathers. This explains why there are so many foreign-sounding names on the roster.

To those who scorn as the recruitment of the Fil-foreigners, we are actually much better off than other countries in terms of getting the athletic talents to play for our nation, other countries simply naturalize top athletes to make them their own.

 Watch the Azkals play against Myanmar tonight over ESPN. Game starts at 8:30.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings go to Elmer Karaan and Grace Flores-Gonzales, who turned a year older last Monday.

The same goes to my compadre Ramoncito ‘Don-don’ Arquiza and my comadre Desiree ‘Cookie’ Queblatin-Chan, who celebrated yesterday.

Today’s greetings go to PB Member Arleigh Jay Sitoy, fellow sports columnist Noel Villaflor, Gretel Oyas, Walter Mack, June Herrera-Chiongbian, and Toni Rose McDonnel.

Congratulations to my fellow judoka, T. Padilla barangay captain Michael Ralota, who was elected president of the Association of Barangay Councils of Cebu City yesterday.

More power to all of you! – THE FREEMAN