Latest news is that the German Michael Weiss will be the new Azkals coach and Simon McMenemy will not get a new contract.
Latest from PFF from Facebook : No decision has been made with regards to the coaching staff for both the AZKALS and MALDITAS.
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KOREA DPR ARE #U17WWC CHAMPIONS! 🇰🇵🏆
1 day ago
With the new coach and players coming all I can say is "The Germans are coming" The Germans are coming' Hide your daughters . (-:
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, if we start playing like the Germans the rest of Asia better watch out.
I feel bad for Simon though. He has done nothing wrong and helped us achieve our best finish yet. Maybe we can retain him in some capacity. If not, I would like him to wish him luck in his future endeavors.
nice, an experienced coach wow. Filipino football is finally booming
ReplyDeleteF*** the germans. Sooner or later there will be only fil-germans on the team with no other filipinos on the team. And from what it looks like right now, hardly any local players will make it.
ReplyDeleteSaving Philippine football isnt about beefing up the mens national team with filipinos from abroad, its about improving the sport within the country. Better facilities, better training programs, better leagues etc etc. We will NEVER qualify for a WC or Asian championship with no good grassroot program and a good league with quality players.
^Better facilities, better training programs, better leagues ....takes years or even decades to take effect.
ReplyDeleteFrance's 98 success was a fruit of 20 years youth program, same with 2010 Germany
So what do you want to do now?
If the fil-fors are the best our country then they have equal right to play for the flag. No favoritism...those who deserves to play the best lang dapat.
Read the post again. We will NEVER qualify for a WC with just bringing in filipinos from abroad. That wont happen for us. I didnt say i dont want the filipinos abroad to play for the national team. You took that out of context.
ReplyDeleteEven if we get 15 players of Jerry Lucenas qualities, or 15 players with top league experience, we will still have a hard time to qualify. Yes, leagues and grassroot programs will take years, even decades, but is HAS to START somewhere. I didnt say it will take a few years. Fans even think that 2014 WC can be a reality, but its not. Also 2018 and 2022 is too close and wont happen.
People to need to be more realistic. Im not saying dreaming is a bad thing, but 2014, 2018 and 2022? Just forget it.
Just wait and see....
ReplyDeleteYeah, and ill think the Philippine Ice Hockey team will become Olympic champions in 8 years.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Key to progress and success starts off within the country. You think you will qualify for the WC in 2014 by bringing in 5th and 6th tier players from Germany? Get real.
We were lucky to qualify for the Suzuki Cup in the first place. Anyone here of the newbie fans actually saw the qualifiers?
Mr. Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThere are comments here on the article Cutiallas says lets get real" that discusses your argument in detail. Everybody agrees that we need a local league and grassroots programs to really contend but in the meantime we need this Fil Euro players to compete.
BTW the German assistance package does not only include a free coach, but they were willing to let us use their training facilities for our teams as well as help us develop a grass roots development program.
They helped us back in the early 90's with a coach(Bernard Zgoll) who wanted to set up a devt. program but we we're not ready back then. Now with massive interest, things are different. BTW, I have been following Philippine soccer since the 90's, have you?
Sorry about using the term soccer instead of football. I have lived in the US for some time now and got used to it. Back home growing up and playing football since grade school, I used football all the time but I got used to soccer over here. Read the comments on the article I mentioned before continuing your argument.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to add, without there reinforcements from abroad, there wouldn't be the massive interest we are gaining right now. There wouldn't be any corporate interest to fund the various grassroots devt. programs. And we wouldn't have the political will that would be necessary to build the facilities that you want us to have. And most of all there wouldn't even be the possibility of setting up a first division league that you mention. We will just stuck in the rut we have been experiencing for the past 70 year or so.
ReplyDeleteLets not start this. Short term fix argument all over again. Relax. We all know the Fil foreigners are doing the job now and we just do what we have to do to win. But everyone knows we cant base our football development program on a situation where a foreign nurse ban in Europe could put us bakc a decade or so. We need to build our home properly so we will have a pool of homegrown players to choose from. It will keep the team truly competitive and so those fil foreigners dont act like they are doing us a favor by playing for our National Team.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all lets stop calling them Fil foreigners, half breeds, or mongrels. The first one makes them sound like they are not Filipinos which by law they are. The last two are derogatory terms used by so called pure races to describe children with parents of diff. backgrounds. It smacks of racial insensitivity. Caucasians used to use them to make themselves looks superior. Just ask Hitler.
ReplyDeleteSome of these Filipinos who were born and lived abroad come here sometimes at their own expense and with very little financial incentive to play for us bec. of love of country or love of football.
Some of them like Jason de Jong even had the opportunity to play for the Dutch youth teams but turned them down in order to play for us. Let us give them the respect they deserve for sacrifices they make for our team.
BTW, Jay you read my posts in the other article. I am an advocate of having a truly professional league producing most of our players but that doesn't mean we should not get the best players if they happen to be based abroad. The rest of the world does it, why not we?
Absolutely Right mr. cjeagle --- IN ADDITION
ReplyDeleteAlmost all "Filipinos" are half blooded-
from Spanish , American , Chinese , Japanese British and with the Recent Immigration of Korean , Middle Eastern , South East Asia and others .
"Centuries of migration, diaspora, assimilation, and cultural diversity made most Filipinos open-minded in embracing interracial marriage and multiculturalism.
giving rise to Filipinos of mixed racial and/or ethnic origins also known as Mestizos."
"Philippine nationality law is currently based upon the principles of your place of birth or origin, and therefore descent from a parent who is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines is the primary method of acquiring national citizenship."
"Birth in the Philippines to foreign parents does not in itself confer Philippine citizenship, although RA9139, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000, does provide a path for administrative naturalization of certain illegal citizens born in the Philippines"
Who are the True Filipinos ?
True Blooded Filipinos are the "Aetas", Igorot, Ibaloi (mixed) and other ethnic Groups which I am proud of.
I want McMenemy back..
ReplyDeleteeven as an assistant manager..
LOL..
he has been a great boost for Philippine Football
Yes it is vulgar to talk about "pure pinoys". Scholars agree that humanity started in Africa and then spread throughout the world. Therefore, we are all African. (even pure pinoys).
ReplyDeleteMost Filipino citizens from overseas have to make major sacrifices to play for their country. When they play, family members from around the world fly to watch the games.
You guys get in touch with reality. They will always be called Fil foreigners and thats not gonna change. Ever hear of Pinoy racists? We are the ones being discriminated world wide. You gotta be kidding. Lets not go there as it is gonna open a whole different can of worms and I dont believe thats the point of discussion here. Get real and spare me the lecture on first world vulgarity and being politically correct. Thats not even my point. eagle, i didnt say not to pick fil foreigners, I am just saying its not a sustainable way of doing things. And yes other teams do it but tell me which team in the Suzuki cup (let's keep it in our own little backyard) have 80% of the first team comprising of "nationals with foreign lineage" (if that sounds better and doesnt offend the audience's racial sensitivities)? I have nothing against them and consider them Filipinos and sporting heroes as Bata Reyes and Pacquiao, but i dont believe we cant produce the same quality locally with the correct training, exposure and support. Thats what has to change.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing, LBC has put in a lot to try to put a decent league in place even before we played this year's suzuki cup. The UFL is the closest thing we have to a professional league. You should ask the Araneta Group as well as the Alaska Group what they have done for football. Its not all because of the fil foreigners eagle. The fil foreigners have been here for a while and this is the only time we have gotten results. Guys we been doing this a long time, I dont know if anybody remembers our keeper Oliver Guy in the 80's..Ever since my dad hosted the whole football team in Malaysia in those days I been following the Azkals..the Blu Boys they use to be called..If there is mention of grassroots now its because we have someone honest fronting for us instead of the trapos (traditional politicians for those who may again be offended). There has always been offers and programs to develop it for decades. Its not only this month. FIFA has always put there money where there mouth is to develop grassroots. Just ask Martinez what happened to the funds. The fil foreigners are not the only solution and i would like to think with the correct program in place we can eventually make it without having to rely SO HEAVILY on them.
ReplyDeleteYes I have noticed Fil foreigner is a term used very often in media both print and online. I don't like it and neither do our players. Chris Greatwich when asked what he prefers to be called responds Englipino in a jesting manner. If you check all my posts I would usually use foreign based players or players based abroad or as you said nationals with foreigh lineage but since it is now a term in common usage and as an abbreviation I don't mind the term fil foreigner too much.
ReplyDeleteIt is the other two terms Half breed and mongrel which I find offensive. They are used predominantly in a derogatory manner and see them here on this blog and other websites. If you put yourself in our players shoes, you would feel just as offended since they have been referred to in the same way in their countries of origin.
Yes we are more often victims of discrimination and because of it we should be more sensitive to not doing the same to others. Like any Filipino living abroad we have experienced it first hand but I have also met friends of diff. races who have tried their best to be polite and diplomatic which some would term 'politically correct' and truly appreciate their effort.
BTW if you think Pinoy racism doesn't exist, try going to the popular PACMAN website, mannypacquaio.ph and go check their boards. A lot of foreigners who frequent those boards are upset at the jingoism and outright racism demonstrated by some of our triumphant Pinoy countrymen to the point that they take it out on Manny Pacquiao who inspite of his success is as humbles as you can be. Most of these critics like Manny. They just don't like Manny's bigoted fans.
But coming back to the topic at hand, citing as an example the US, prior to setting up a league of their own, routinely fielded national soccer teams who were predominantly immigrants or children of immigrants. It was the only way they could compete.
As I mention before and you have read all my posts from the other article, without a true professional 1st division league where we can develop and train players 5 times a week with a game in the weekends, we will never produce enough elite players that can compete at the international level.
And the only way we can develop this league is by gaining the interest of the general public which can only be done by having a successful national team. So we must use all our players both local and those based abroad to accomplish this.
As for the UFL, it is nothing more than a semi pro league but it is the best that we have at the moment and we should support it the best that we can. However as you know I have already outlined what I consider a viable means of setting up a truly national 1st division professional league in the other article. If all the relevant sectors cooperate it is doable esp. in the current climate.
As for the Germans, they also are willing to help us at the grassroots level as well. providing equipment, training our coaches, setting up a development scheme and hosting our teams both at the senior and the youth level. All of this will help.
BTW it is not only Martinez that needs replacing, we need to remove those individuals who are not doing anything to promote football and are there for other reasons, whether at the regional or provincial level. Otherwise the cycle of corruption will rear its ugly head again in the future.
As for the Blu Boys, isn't that the monicker for the Phlippine national softball team?
I posted a response but it didn't go through bec, it was too long which annoyed me greatly after all the work and I don't feel like repeating it.
ReplyDeleteI will point out that I can cite 2 examples of 2 countries that did so. The US before they had a league routinely fielded teams predominantly made up immigrant and children of immigrants. In our own backyard I would cite Singapore as an example since most of their population is of Chinese extraction and most of their players is Malay or naturalized european or African. Just check their names.
i guess thats great to hear, i wish they renewed simon's contract he was a great coach to our country's team
ReplyDeleteThats exactly my point. The US did that because of the fact they didnt have a pro league yet and they did what they had to do to put a competitive team on the field. But once they did develop the sport and have a big pool of players who benefited from their efforts, did they rely on europeans with american lineage as we are doing right now? I dont think so. So it was a short term fix because they know its not the way to run a decent football program. I know all about Singapore having lived in Malaysia. Singapore was once part of Malaysia and yes they are predominantly Chinese, around 70% of the population is but you fail to mention the remaining 30% are Malays and Indians. Their demographics is much like Malaysia's. So those foreign sounding names are actually Singaporean born and bred and can not be compared to what Younghusband and company are to the Philippines who are foreign born and bred. It would be saying like Caligdong and Bersales are foreign sounding because they come from Iloilo. Thats what Sinagpore was, like a province of Malaysia. Read my comment again, would you say Singapore has 80% of their first team who are nationals with foreign lineage? They have two players in that game against the Philippines, Duric and Benett who would even remotely fall under what Iam talking about. Actually I dont think they have a drop of Singapore blood in them but the principle is the same. However the rest of those Singaporeans on their team are most likely sourced from their own league and general population. So I would say the Singaporean model is actually a point in favor of my argument because here is a team who has developed their own grassroots program and selected the majority of their national team from this same program. Again Iam not against fil foreigners or whatever you want to call them playing for us, we just cant do this forever and not start implementing a program so we can chose from local players. No country except us is doing this and I doubt how successful we will be in the long run. If you want quick results and quick fixes then let us continue to rely on them.
ReplyDeleteI covered most of this in my lost post but in essence we agree on most points. You know my stand on the pro league situation and we agree on those except that I advocate a top down decentralized approach rather than the slower start at the bottom and build up approach(like the UFL) which will take too long.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I also prefer a decentralized model with teams in diff. cities to take advantage of natural rivalries and expose the game to a wider audience. Think Barcelona and Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United, etc.
The way I see it support for Manila based teams tend to be lukewarm and fleeting. We can ensure sold out stadiums, passionate crowds, national tv coverage and with the increased audience, corporate backing as well as other revenue streams like signage, parking, concessions, etc. that we don't have at this time.
Of course, we need the city and public governments to build the stadiums that our teams will play in. Some cities are already planning on doing so or are renovating existing facilities so it is feasible.
In the meantime, we should keep on fielding the best team we can have by using Fil-Euros to build up the public interest that will ultimately make our dream of a 1st division league possible.
BTW, if you think Pinoy racism doesn't exist, try going to the PACMAN website mannypacquaio.ph. A lot of foreigners who frequent that site are upset at the nationalistic jingoism, arrogance or outright racism demonstrated by our countrymen to the point that they take it out on Manny who is one of the most humble celebrities you will ever meet.
ReplyDeletei agree even phil younghusband had an offer at chelsea but he instead chooses to play here.CJEagle yes it would boost public interest. Lets admit that like david beckham, iker casillias and kaka good looks is always a plus. Even Indonesians remembers our players! Come on don't be too hard. All is well. And it will only get better.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Singaporeans, their federation is threatening to fire all their national team players bec. of their disappointing results. They have a professional league and are looking for even more foreigners they can naturalize. Just goes to show that inspite of having a high paying pro league, adding players from abroad is a worldwide trend.
ReplyDeleteSorry on the contrary Phil Younghusband had to leave Chelsea because he was not offered a contract. He should have stayed in Europe though maybe in the 2nd division or some other country over there. The brothers liked too much the attention they were receiving here and did not even try to compete for a team in Europe.
ReplyDeleteBut with all the reinforcements coming in, of course I am optismistic sometimes too much so.
Oh come on people, let's not talk about wether pure breds or fil-foreigners playing for the Philippines. It about people who chooses to play for their country amidst our lowly position. These people are experienced in the international football scene hence this will boost the pure bred teammates to aspire to play how the league does it! Training and playing along with fil-foreigners will be a small step for our pure breeds to have the discipline and mindset of an international league player on the other hand, those fil- foreigners to adapt the ways and embrace the culture of our country. Let's set aside pride and let help come and do it's part. Being humble after all does no harm. Look, even their pure Filipino teammates accepted them as part of team Philippines. Why cant we.
ReplyDeleteI havnt checked the pacman's site out yet. But i can understand how people here can be overly passionate about him as finally we can be proud of something as he is a world class athlete in the mold of tiger woods, lebron and federer. Hoewever, I would be inclined to believe its mostly the result of other nationalities taking shots at Filipinos first rather than an existing superiority complex of Filipinos. Mayweather has been calling him a lot of names..
ReplyDeleteAnyway, i just hope at the end of the day, the PFF sees what needs to be done. Whether they do baby steps or come up with a development plan that can instantly attract major sponsors..I hope they do it quickly and efficiently
Hey my lost post just reappeared. Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteThe blu boys is indeed the monicker for the softball team. I said the Philippine football team USED to be called that. I know what I know but you can research if you like. It was way before the Azkals. I think you been living too long outside of the Philippines to interpret what goes on as Filipino racism especially on MP's site as he is the only Filipino athlete we can say is pound for pound better than anyone in his sport. Pretty big racial repercussions but it is a cold fact. I would call them alaskadors rather than racists. And it is no small part due to Paquiao's domination rather than a feeling of the Pinoy as a master race. My opinion is most filipinos are brought up with an inferiority complex but with a very sharp sense of humor. iam probably gonna get a lot of stick from the purists out there. But iam just saying the truth if you are exposed to the masses. Sociology books are full of these traits that tend to establish a belief that anything foreign is more respected and you hear stuff as you grow up about the color of our skin, the flatness of our noses and the shortness of our height. One would really have to be one sick SOB to think our race is superior to others. Because any reference to the above traits would stop us in our tracks.
ReplyDeleteI would not call the UFL as nothing more than a semi -pro league. I think thats insensitive to the people who organized it and are doing their part to attain their vision (which isnt far from we are talking and agreeing to here) when no one else is sweetening the pot. Visit their website and check out their business presentation. Again if you have lived here long enough and played here with your varsity team and think your pretty good only to graduate and find out there are no more options..you will know what the UFL represents. I disagree that the only way we can develop a pro league is to get public acceptance first which can only be in turn provided by a successful national team. It is a factor yes but its not the only way. What if we start losing? So there goes your pro league. The right way to do it is to have a sustainable pro league first which should result in a successful national team. Get kids playing, both in the public and private schools, flood media with football, build your market first.
There is an ideal way of doing as you say. Government to build stadia, private investment to come in, etc. Yes in a perfect world, that is the way to go. But iam just being practical to the business/financial climate here in the Philippines. 60% in poverty and you expect them to build stadia in each region? The PBA with all its millions and corporate backing cant even get their own arena off the drawing board. Thats just one decent basketball arena. We need to start small and make money for those who would dare to sink their money in to an unproven endeavor. Thats what doable. If we can create a cycle wherein players can actually earn more than the minimum wage, then thats already a great start.
ReplyDeleteAgain I have to clarify between foreign based and fil foreigners. Park Ji Sung (who as far as I know have both Korean parents and was born and raised in South Korea) is foreign based. James Younghusband is a fil foreigner. By all means if we have a player of Park's calibre, use him in every game. But where did he learn his football? Where did he play before the Premiership? He was a product of Korean Football. Thats what Iam saying. James Younghusband is a product of a woman from Malabon (god bless her and I say this with all respect) building her life in the UK and allowing her sons to play the beautiful game. We can keep on looking for these individuals all over the world or we can do it right and produce them locally. I agree to doing the quick fix yes..but I also want the security to know that after 10 years, we will have another player like him which we can pick from our program. Singapore much like us have no choice as they only have 5 million people. The day time population of Makati is more than twice that. But yet we could only snatch a draw and that shows they are decades ahead of us in terms of football development. If Chris hadnt scored who knows how far they would have gone with the way Indonesia broke down. I will also clarify that Singapore doesnt rely on foreign based players or any of its nationals with foreign lineage. I think the last Singaporean who made it big was this magical player called Fandhi Ahmad who played in the Dutch Eredivisie and Ajax had shown interest in him twice in his career in the early 90's. Singapore can very well replace all their players but they will replace them from their pool of hopefuls plying their trade in Singapore.
I didn't mean to sound too harsh about the UFL and I would like to apologize to those who have read my posts who are connected to that league who were offended by this.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still playing in the late 80's and early 90's over there, football was a little bit more popular and we had commercial leagues that for a while attracted decent crowds on occasion.
From what I understand, things have gone down since I have left and after a few false starts the UFL is the most recent attempt to establish a pro league. After all the failures in the past, I can understand why they want to start cautiously and build up.
This I believe is a realistic approach prior to the Suzuki Cup. I just think that the recent success of the Azkals has changed the dynamics of our sport forever and that it is now time to reassess the possibilities. I would read stuff like some of our Fil Euros saying that they wished that we had a professional league in the country they can play in as they would very rather stay here and feel that maybe we should create one.
The UFL approach might ultimately lead to a bigger pro league but it might take decades to do so. We can't afford to wait that long and possibly lose the momentum we have gained in the last month or so.
But then again as you said, I have been away too long and am just too optimistic for my own good. All I can say is that the reason we have fallen behind our neighbors not just in sports but economically as well is because we have had no leaders with vision who are willing to expand our frontiers beyond just surviving or maintaining the status quo. The blueprint for success whether in sports or economic growth is already out there even within our own region or continent. We just need to implement it and see it through.
As for the stadiums, I think our president pointed out when the Azkals visited him at the Palace that how is it that countries poorer than us like Cambodia and Laos can build this magnificent stadiums while we are forced to play our home game at the stadium of our opponent.
ReplyDeleteHaving the political will to build one requires having public support for such a task and we are building that support faster than I thought possible.
Some regions like Davao had plans to build one already and certainly Bacolod is the home of our national stadium at this time. These football crazy regions need to be harnessed to provide the engine for growing our sport not only at the amateur level but also at the pro level as well.
In regards to Singapore, they do have a smaller population but did you know that Uruguay only has a population of 3.5 million and not only have won several
ReplyDeleteWorld Cups but continues to be relatively successful and competitive at the World Cup.
The US inspite of having a much larger population did not do as well as Uruguay did at the last World Cup. The US have realized and are not only trying to improve their league and their players but are now actively looking for players worldwide.
They have used a lot of resources into building a scouting system that have now found at least 400 players living abroad who can potentially play for them.
Their U-20 coach Thomas Rongen was able to convince the captains of the U-17 teams of Portugal and Germany to switch their allegiances to the USA at the U-20 and both of those kids have lived most of their lives in their countries of origin.
This has resulted in an U-20 team who were culled from different parts of the world, who play different styles to come together into a formidable team that can potentially win the U-20 World Cup at Colombia this year.
The US, a land of immigrants, have never been shy at employing people of diff. backgrounds and it has made them great and if we want to be as great as they are, so shouldn't we.
A grader knows that stuff. IDIOT
ReplyDeleteSo many nonsense ideas.
The US has more nationals abroad than the Philippines i would think so the potential for them to recruit players with American lineage is a big possibility. Yet I wouldnt call the US relying on these foreign players like the same way we are doing. Am not sure if any member of their senior team which had a successful World cup was a product of this strategy. All of them to my knowledge have been born and trained in the US. We'd have to look into it more closely but their key players are certainly products of their own system. My deduction is the competition in the US is so tough that maybe these half Americans living abroad cant break into the Senior Team which would speak volumes about their football program. Again, looking at their program, they can use that strategy if it gives them an advantage sure. But are they relying or even need to rely on it? No. Lets not talk about Uruguay or any South American team. They have more football skill in one city than most countries have. My reference to population is to compare Singapore and us and the debate on relying on foreigners with local lineage. I really dont think there is a country out there who have become successful with the same strategy were using. I just dont think it is a good long term solution. It wont beat having your entire population to chose players from who have all gone thru a rigorous and efficient football development program. Again, we can use it sure if it gives us an advantage. But lets not rely on it.
ReplyDeleteLets not get carried away with the public support. Until someone figures out how to translate it into income for businesses, the infrastructure will not be realized. Thats why I have respect for what the UFL is doing. They are taking a stab at it. The Philippines has its own specific way of development. You have to look at how basketball took off to get an idea of how we can grow football into the mainstream. It was not a regional competition. It started from the popularity in Manila (the old MICAA league in the 30's up to the 70's) after which 10 teams broke off and created the PBA. The thing is they are ultimately selling products (San Miguel, Alaska, talk n Text) not building basketball teams. You really have to start small to build those regional rivalries like what happened in Europe (Barcelona, Manchester, Milan, Paris). Ultimately all these teams owned their own stadia. Here all existing arenas are owned by the government. So someone has to develop a good business plan and be able to sell it to regional businesses.
ReplyDeleteTo have a successful team at national level will bring interest from media and stimulate the growth and interest from the whole nation towards football its called a knock on affect. Take this site for instance 3 months ago it was virtually empty now we have all these experts.
ReplyDeleteRED AND WHITE
Jay
ReplyDeleteWell I haven't been to this thread in sometime, so I didn't know you responded. As you know news of a nationwide competition being planned is slowly becoming a reality and my prediction of corporate support seems to be bearing fruit. Both Smart/Global and Asia Brewery have taken the initiative in sponsoring tournaments. Talk of UFL in some circles expanding to the provinces is making me think that maybe they have been reading and adapting some of my suggestions.
My hope that instead of adopting the PBA model, they will eventually use the MBA ones instead. The center of gravity for football in our country is not Manila but in the Visayas and Mindanao, so prospects for adopting a decentralized professional league will have a better chance of succeeding in football than it did in basketball.
It is slowly happening folks and I feel vindicated.
As for the US, as I said they have always used not only immigrants but have actively sought players born, bred and trained abroad who qualify for their team for decades now. Thomas Dooley and Earnie Stewart are a few examples of this from 90's who just happened to have American fathers.
They are doing it now with Mikkel Diskerud who is half Norwegian. Of course, bec. they now have a league they don't have to do it to the same degree as us but the principle is the same. They don't care where you came from as long as you qualify for a US passport and can help the team, they will welcome you. As I mentioned already they have found more than 400 players worldwide who can play for them and are actively recruiting this kids.
Other nations like Qatar and other wealthy middle eastern nations are naturalizing players( without any ties to their countries) wholesale to play for their team and it will only get worse as the time for hosting the World Cup approaches.
It is a trend worldwide and strong nations like the Argentinian are doing it. I agree that we shouldn't just rely it and certainly do our best to develop our players, but lets not turn them down either.
Again, eagle. I never said to turn them down. But looking at the list of the current US National Team Mikkel Diskerud seems to be the exception than the rule. Which is exactly my point. They got one player from this program. All the other players were born and bred in the US, products of their own program. We have what 7 or 8 in the first team? with more coming. Its not a trend in world football, its been happening ever since because theres nothing illegal about it. Teams have been doing it for years (and i can name a few examples myself) but not to the detriment of building your own program. My comments have been posted with an end view to strengthen the local football development program and putting a professional league in place where good players can have a chance of continuing their development and make a career out of football after school. Once this is firmly in place we will lose dependence on recruiting from abroad which i am sure would be more ideal. If we can have the majority of players who make up the National Team sourced from the local league then I think we would be successful. It would mean the level in the Philippines would have grown so competitive that players abroad if they are not outstanding wont make the team.
ReplyDeleteYou know what we really agree on most points. We both feel we need a strong local league where we can source most of our players. I just think that Asians in general view these players who are looked on as mercenaries, from a different prism as we here in the US do.
ReplyDeleteHere in the US, it is not such a big deal where you come from. Even back in the beginning when the US made the semis of the World Cup they were using a lot of players from the British Isles who were playing in the American Soccer League. Even in the 50's when they last beat England in the World Cup, a Haitian scored the winning goal and there were questions on whether he even carried a US passport since rules where not as strict then.
Today when you look at popular soccer blogs like Bigsoccer, you can see fans look all over the world for potential players for the team. Anything to give them an edge. Most national team players in the past were immigrants or children of immigrants so it was natural to look for players abroad.
My point is let the best players play regardless of where they came from as long as they are eligible.
PS As for the current US team, Stuart Holden was born in Scotland, Juan Agudelo born in Colombia, a lot of players who are in the pool where born in Africa, Europe, South and Central America, and one who just played in the last friendly against Chile, Nick Rimando is half Filipino. (-:
Yes we do agree on most points. I am not one of those who view them as mercenaries. Its just that it gets harder to sell football to kids here when they see all these players with foreign sounding names. Football is already getting a bad beat because it is mistakenly branded as an elitist sport as most schools have to make better use of their space and only those bigger private schools are able to maintain football fields. I hope our public is past that now as the interest has reached unprecedented heights. The PFF can do a lot more definitely to ride on this renaissance. They just need to put a marketing or business development team in place to just focus. Start with a plan and a road map with periodic goals to set ..i think this will help immensely.
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