Azkals coach says no to superstars

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – Philippine national football team coach Michael Weiss said yesterday he won’t waste time dealing with players demanding money and acting like superstars as the Azkals continue their twice-a-day workouts in preparation for the Feb. 9 opener of a home-and-away Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup qualifier against Mongolia at the Panaad Stadium here.

“They can stay where they are,” said Weiss, referring to overseas Filipino or Fil-foreign players more interested in a contract than representing the country. “We’re inviting players who want to play for their country. It doesn’t matter if they’re half-Filipinos or full-Filipinos for as long as they’re Filipinos. It’s not right to distinguish a half-Filipino from a full-Filipino. I’m married to a Japanese woman. I wouldn’t like to refer to our children as half-Japanese or half-German.”

Weiss said the important thing is players on the national team respect each other for what they bring to the field. “The idea is to get everyone to play together as a unit,” said Weiss who was assigned here on a grant from the German Football Association. “We’ve got players coming from overseas with different backgrounds. They’re welcome to join. We’re opening the doors to players who can contribute. We’re a heterogeneous group but we’re learning to play as a team. We’re discovering new players like William Espinosa who’s from the local leagues. We want the best players who will be proud to represent the country.”

Weiss, 45, said he’s not inclined to recruit a naturalized player like a Christian Gonzales, a Uruguayan who plays for Indonesia. “I don’t think it will work to bring a foreigner into the national team,” he said. “Chemistry is critical and I’m not sure if there will be good chemistry if a foreigner comes to play for the national team.”

The other night, Weiss coached the Azkals to a 4-1 win over a Korean squad reinforced by two locals who are students of Central Philippine University in Iloilo City. West Negros’ Eduard Sacapano, 30, was the Azkals goalkeeper in place of Neil Etheridge who is expected to arrive from England tomorrow. The Azkals’ goals were scored by Simon Greatwich, Aly Borromeo, Ian Araneta and Espinosa. Korean Gyung Sik Choi slipped in a goal off Sacapano with a grounder to the deep right corner coming from the left flank as the linesmen ignored an off-side trap by Borromeo.

Hundreds of fans stormed the pitch in a mob scene to snap photos after the Azkals won and shrieking teen-aged girls waved adoringly at their idols, including Weiss, as the team sped away in a bus to the Luxur Hotel, the former Bacolod Convention Center. Azkalmania has swept the city like an epidemic.

An additional 300 lux capacity was installed for the match to bring up the level to 800 lux which was the lighting for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup matches in Vietnam last year. The lights were brought in from the nearby Paglaum Stadium, said Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Monico Puentevella who watched the match from the stands.

“We’re 60 to 70 percent ready,” said Weiss. “We still need some fine-tuning. We’re getting used to playing together, getting comfortable with each other and the stiff pitch. Success won’t come overnight. It takes a plan, a strategy, patience, money, support, hard work and many tears before we can move ahead. I’ve been in the country only three weeks and I like it. I’m here for two years. My goal is to take the team to top form for the 2012 Suzuki Cup.

We’ll go as far as we can in the Challenge Cup. I think we should be able to beat Mongolia and perhaps, finish in the best eight. I’m not sure about the World Cup qualifiers because that may be too soon. I’ll work with two teams, the other is the under-23 selection for the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia this year. I hope we’ll be competitive for the Southeast Asian Games and I’m told if we get even a bronze, it’ll be a big accomplishment.”

Weiss said it will take “brutal hard work” to even come close to the level of a Japan or Korea.

“Right now, I think we could be at the top of South Asia,” he said. “We’ll test our team against Middle East countries like Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and see how we do against them in the coming months. Then, we’ll find out where we stand against other Asian countries. What the team needs is a clear tactical plan and an organizational set-up. It won’t do running in counters which is suicide football. The players are technically very good with a good understanding of the game. We have speed and I want to develop fast passes, big movements and switching positions to surprise opponents. I want an attacking team with a lot of speed. Our players are just getting used to practicing twice a day when before, it was twice a week which won’t get you very far. If the Philippines ever hopes to be like a Japan or Korea or even Bahrain, it will take a lot of time and effort. It will take putting up big football centers, maybe in six or seven years. But we’ve got to make the big first step now.”

Weiss said the signs are encouraging for the future. With the Azkals’ recent showing in the Suzuki Cup, they’ve become instant national heroes. “If President Aquino comes out to watch the team and show his support, it will inspire more Filipinos to follow and support us,” he said. “There’s a lot of hard work to do. I think what we need is not talk but action.”

Weiss coached the Rwanda under-17 team for four years and now the squad has matured to finish second in the African Cup. He was previously an assistant coach with the China under-20 selection and the Kyoto Purple Sanga in the Japanese league. Weiss, a sports science and management graduate of the University of Mainz, has served internships with Real Madrid, Arsenal, Kaiserslautern and River Plate.