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.”
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RIGHT ON!!!!
ReplyDeleteWith a population of 2.8 million inhabitants and a land mass of 1.5 million square kilometres, Mongolia is the 19th-largest country in the world. And though the nation does not figure in the global football elite, there is genuine interest in the game among its youngsters.Its government is providing systematic support to the football federation.
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges facing Mongolian football is posed by the country’s climate. Ulan Bator has the lowest average temperature of any capital city in the world, and winters are long and cold, while summers are short. It’s not easy to play football in Mongolia.The inclement weather often makes pitches unplayable, but the authorities there are aiming to get young people playing the game through the various development programmes such as Goal Projects I and II. There is now an artificial pitch and academy complex having now been built in Ulan Bator. In June Mongolia will be opening an indoor futsal pitch, which has been made possible by Goal Project III.
There is a lot of building work going on in Mongolia and business owners are always looking to find land to build on. Where there are pitches, the government is doing everything it can to stop playing fields and football pitches in particular from being built on.
It looks like in terms of football infrastructure and vision, the Philippines still lags behind Mongolia. So hwag nating maiitin ang Mongolian team that's playing next week against the Azkals. Baka mapahiya tayo.
I wonder which players Coach Weiss is referring to as demanding money. Hopefully it is not the Danes Cagara and Lucena as they would be a big addition to the team. Before anyone starts getting too emotional about this issue, I would like to remind everyone, that financial compensation is expected for each game in other countries but we are in no position, being a third world country and relatively undeveloped in the game of football, to offer that.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the US, I remember the US national soccer team threatening to go on strike a decade ago without a contract being signed with the USSF, for increased financial compensation for each game, and for achieving milestones in tournaments they participated on esp. at the World cup.
Some of our European based players, esp. in the higher divisions are probably used to this incentive, as this is common in Europe but all we can offer is to cover their expenses plus the meager allowance our local players get plus occasional incentives they received from making certain milestones like for example making the semis of the last Suzuki cup.
That is why those of our players who have played for us in the past should be commended for eagerly donning the national jersey, and playing for us under this conditions.
BTW, I like how Coach Weiss details his plans and expectations over the next year or two, and his plans on how to improve the team esp. on switching the point of attack and other tactical details. He sounds like a real knowledgeable coach.
Jay and others,
ReplyDeleteCoach Weiss doesn't like his kids being called half this or half that. As i mentioned in my previous posts, we should be more sensitive in how we call our players. I have read posts calling them half breeds and mongrels which are considered derogatory in a lot of english speaking countries. We are not a homogenous nation and a large segment of our population incl. most of our past and current presidents and national heroes incl Jose Rizal are of mixed descent so lets not single out our players as being so different from the rest of us.
cjeagle is right. In Western countries people who talk about "pure blood" are looked upon as ignorant bigots like the Nazis or Ku Klux Klan. If you want Coach Weiss to leave, keep insulting his family.
ReplyDeleteAn Azkal is a mongrel. That is its strength. Remember that "pure bloods" are more likely to have genetic disorders, reduced intelligence, and personality disorders. I was talking about dogs of course. Maybe it applies to people too.
I agree 100%/. At least they can tell what the other half of them is made of, but for most of us we cannot track it anymore coz its several generations past. Down the line I have some mixed in me but there is no way I can find out what. And I hate to be called half-something. We should call them Filipinos, plain and simple. Just say Filipinos based abroad. We should start this CJeagle "Filipinos based abroad", maybe the others will get used to it and follow, hope the media will to.
ReplyDeleteIt might be okay to use such terms when referring to dogs or horses especially since we deliberately breed animals to get a favorable characteristic but applying this same concept on humans is considered unethical and morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteI prefer calling them Filipinos based abroad or foreign based Filipinos but it is such a mouthful so FilAms or FilEuros or FilBrits,etc. seems to me an acceptable and common usage in such cases. I would consider myself a FilAm for instance.
Since the PFF is just now getting its act together and building a legit youth system, it's going to take a long, long time for the the Philippines to get to the level of Japan and S. Korea. 30 years if we're lucky. In 15 years, an Azkals team can get into WC qualifying, but to get to the same level of the best in Asia? That's going to take a generation or two.
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeleteSojib