Waking up football in The Philippines

As teams in the northern hemisphere prepare to don their gloves, hats and thermals for the upcoming months, the biennial AFF cup in the humidity of South East Asia offers a more tropical alternative. The tournament has been held since 1996 with Thailand and Singapore each enjoying standout success since its inauguration. One country however, which has traditionally been less successful is The Philippines, a nation whose adoption of basketball as the national sport, marks it out from the rest of Asia. However, under the guidance of Englishman Simon McMenemy, the national team made it through an intensely tight qualification campaign and is gearing up towards the tournament which will this year be played in Vietnam. Today we take a look at the job McMenemy faces and speak to the man himself about the challenges and rewards in promoting the profile and quality of football in The Philippines.

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