Eyes on Azkals

These days, it’s no longer unusual to see athletes and sports personalities doing things other than sports. Many of them are commercial endorsers; some become actors. And why not, when a lot of them are tall, well-built and have looks that could easily translate into something powerfully attractive onscreen.

One sports team that many of us have followed closely since 2010 (when they qualified for the AFC Suzuki Cup and put the Philippines on the world map of football) is the Philippine Azkals. But the members of the Azkals aren’t just good-looking athletes; they’re also immensely talented, as well as good role models.

There’s Misagh Bahadoran, a Filipino-Iranian footballer who plays for the Azkals and the Global FC. Since 2006, he has also been a regular part of the Philippine National Futsal Team. Born in January 1987 (which would make him 26 years old), Bahadoran traces his roots to Pampanga and recently graduated from Centro Escolar University with a degree in Dentistry. He plays forward for the Azkals.

Another outstanding Azkals player is Mark Hartmann. Mark actually belongs to a family of footballers: His brothers are Darren, who played for the Philippine Under-21’s during the 2005 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy, and Matthew, who was the Philippines’ under-23 and senior international footballer. Mark, at 21, is the youngest of the brothers, and was born in Southampton, England. Mark, aside from being part of the Azkals, is a member of the under-23 selection for the Southeast Asian Games, and also plays the position of attacking midfielder or second striker for the Meralco Sparks in the UFL.

Filipino-Dutch midfielder Jason Nicolas Maria Dantes de Jong (or simply Jason de Jong for short) has been described as a very physical defensive player. The 23-year-old was born to a Filipina mother and a Dutch father in Breda, Netherlands. He started playing football at age five, learning the sport from his father. Jason made his debut playing for the Philippines in 2008 and is looking forward to many more years of donning the Philippine colors.

Likewise, the Azkals’ team manager Stephen Dan Palami is an important part of their group because it is he who provides the guidance to these three and the other players who make up the Azkals. Largely believed to be the man behind the resurgence of Philippine football and the public’s interest in the sport, Palami was appointed Azkals’ team manager in 2009, when the Philippine Football Federation gave him the job. At the time, the task was a thankless one, because football was not as popular as other sports like basketball, and the Azkals were losing internationally. Still, Palami agreed to take it on as a challenge. Today, the picture has changed, and the Azkals are a much-respected team even in the international scene.

To achieve this kind of status, it was important for Palami and the other people connected with the team to impose discipline and to make the members of the team learn how to balance their being athletes with their being fast-rising celebrities. For Bahadoran, Hartmann and De Jong — and Palami as well — who are the new faces behind Freego Jeans’ Freedom in Jeans campaign that simply means having a clear sense of what their priorities are. Freedom in Jeans was conceptualized with today’s individuals in mind,” explains Tessa Ringor, marketing manager of Jeanology, the company behind Freego. “It emphasizes Freego’s main fashion tenets — style, fit and comfort — and highlights our denim signature: Jeans that feel like they are a natural extension of your body; and, therefore, leave you free to do whatever you want while looking your best.”

For Bahadoran, Hartmann and De Jong and team manager Palami, freedom is a concept that they take to heart, whether in the choices they make as athletes or as celebrities, or even in something as basic as what they wear on a daily basis. This makes them the perfect brand ambassadors for a campaign that celebrates freedom in all its forms.