UK coach to train football team

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF), headed by Mari Martinez, has hired a veteran British football coach to handle the program and training of the national team in the hope of energizing the sport in the country.

Martinez said Desmond Bulpin arrived in the country two weeks ago during which he observed and assessed the training of the members of the RP team pool for three days before finalizing his agreement with the PFF to head the country’s coaching staff.

Martinez said football enthusiasts Dan Palami and Henry Tsai will shoulder the expenses of Bulpin during his stay here in Manila.

The country is lagging behind even in the standard of South East Asian competition but Martinez believes the arrival Bulpin will help the Philippines recover from a spate of misfortunes – the latest of which was during the Asian Under-16 tournament.

Public awareness and the right people to run the daily affair of the team, Martinez stressed, are needed to keep football going in the country.

“Mr. Bulpin would be a big help for us in attaining our goals for the future of Philippine football. Football is the world’s most popular sport and it’s high time for us to improve our chances in competition locally and internationally,” said Martinez.

Bulpin is coming next week and will be bringing with him 25 years of experience in various capacities in major leagues in Europe.

The British coach, according to Martinez, was impressed with the work ethic and passion of the members of the national pool.

“I’m excited to work here and I enjoy the challenge seeing talent progress,” said Bulpin.

Though Bulpin admits that it will entail a lot of hard work and time to whip up the Filipinos into a highly-competitive team, he would like to face the challenge head on.

“It will also be a lot of fun,” he added.

PFF also plans to hold an exhibition game between the future RP team against a Fil-British team (Philippine United Football Club) next year.

Source : Manila Bulletin