BUSINESSMAN Manny V. Pangilinan expressed confidence that the Philippine men’s football team better known as “Azkals” would soon belong to the top three football teams in Southeast Asia. Pangilinan is set to make formal a 10-year support program for Philippine football amounting to a P80 million.
Pangilinan, who led the unveiling of the MVP Sports Foundation Inc. at the Meralco Multipurpose Hall Friday evening, said that he is not giving away a huge amount of money for nothing but for the goal of making the Philippine football team among the top three teams in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region.
“For football, the goal is to be in the top 3 in Southeast Asia. Why? We’ve lost to the top team Indonesia, 1- 0, twice. That’s not a fluke. This gives me reason to believe we can be among the best in the region,” said Pangilinan.
Also present in the occasion was Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President Mariano Araneta as well as some members of the Azkals.
He said that under an agreement with the PFF, they will be funding the Azkals campaigns in various international tournaments and will help bankroll the formation of a Filipino premiere football league to provide opportunities of exposure to local players.
“The time is certainly ripe for us to appreciate, love and support this universally loved sports of football. Thanks to the PFF and our premier football team Azkals, we have come to realize that Filipinos can be competitive in this sport,” stressed Pangilinan.
Besides football, the MVP sports foundation will also be supporting seven other sports including basketball, boxing, cycling, tae kwon do, badminton, tennis and running.
FRANK CALAPRE
Manila Times
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Very intelligent assessment. we can only thank MVP again and again for his support for Philippine sports in general.
ReplyDeletetop 3 in asean?? way too soon to even be thinking of things like that.
ReplyDeletehype at its best!
I hate cynics.
ReplyDeleteSo if we're not going to aim to be the best in the most local region, what the hell do we aim for?!
Besides...its called a GOAL. If goals are not set, then nothing will be achieved.
Agree with Anonymous February 13, 2011 10:14 AM. We need to aim higher or else we'll just always be contented with being at the bottom. Konting pangarap naman, libre lang naman mangarap.
ReplyDeleteI dont know whats wrong with that statement? What is ASEAN? To the anonymous who thinks thats hype, You might be thinking Asian. We beat Vietnam who were the defending champions and we were unbeaten in the group stages. if you do your research on who plays the Suzuki Cup, you will know it is only for the highest ranking countries in South East Asia and we reached the semis as everyone knows. This means we are at the moment among the four best teams in the region already. Since the other semi finalist was Vietnam, that would arguably mean we are at least the third best team since we beat them at their own home. If Martinez forced the issue of at least playing one of those legs against Indonesia at home or at a neutral ground at least, it isnt far fetched we could have beaten them over two games and reached the final (imagine what would happen then??). This guy isnt even a cynic, he doesnt seem to be aware of the facts. We are already a top 3 team in SEA if you base it on this tournament. Keeping us there over the long run of course is another question and that is why MVP is pouring in the money. I dont think a lot of people truly understand why the events at this Suzuki Cup is so important in terms of our standing in the region. We have among the biggest populations in SEA and also have a lot more players overseas than our neighbors. Indonesia, Vietnam,, Malaysia, Thailand, these traditional football powers are all now looking at us with anxiety as we are like a sleeping giant who has started to stir. They are thinking, if one Dan Palami put in a little money (as one individual can so far donate) and developmental support and our team go that far, how much more would we develop if the PFF did their job properly and the private sector will become heavily involved.
ReplyDeleteMVP is smarter than you think. Maybe he wants to get his foot in the door now and be a player before other corporations from outside the Philippines take a stake. Football in Asia is also a business and that is why you have several Asian billionaires buying stakes in clubs in Europe. Now overnight, there is suddenly a market for football in the Philippines. Thats not hype baby, you just need to look out your door. Even Angel Locsin is taking notice..
Let's aim for the top of the world. But we should start now .. at the bottom. So there is no way but up.
ReplyDeletesorry Jay, but until Philippines beat Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore then you can called yourself top four in this region.
ReplyDeleteThats the thing, how do you gauge the strength of a team versus others until you put them head to a head in a tournament? In southeast asia there are only two tournaments, the SEA Games and the Suzuki Cup. If you notice they are biennial games which are held in between each other. Its logical as that is the only way you can gauge the strength of teams in the region at a given year. Other than that, the only other way is to organize smaller tournaments or friendlies which would not be determined through any step ladder format. The Philippines had every right to be there after they went thru qualifiers. Thailand and Singapore didnt make the semifinals and Singapore did not beat us. Yet we beat the team that took out Singapore. And if you watched our match against Singapore, you can not say we were lucky. If there was one area we were clearly better was conditioning. Singapore was fading fast by the 60th to 70th minute and the Philippines knew it. You are dead wrong about Thailand. They may have a good league and a big name manager but they have not reached the semifinal of the latest editions of the Sea Games and the Suzuki Cup. At this moment, in SEA, we are arguably better than them. A lot of people will agree their standard internationally for the past four years is way below expectations. Even at a bigger scale, look at the world rankings now. The top four teams are those that made the semi finals of the world cup. Iam as surprised as anyone that the Philippines is in this position but based on the results, we are at this time in the top 4 in SEA.
ReplyDeleteWHAT A JOKE !!!!!!!!!! MVP WANT BUYING EVERYTHING FOR ONLY 80 MILLION PHP. DOES HE RESPECT SIR PALAMI? THE NT HAS A HIGHER VALUE AS DIS!
ReplyDeleteNONONG ARANETA SHOULD NO SELL AZKALS AND PFF LEAGUE FOR PEANUTS!
@ Anonymous February 13, 2011 10:14 AM.
ReplyDeleteNobody said not to aim for anything. It's just that the aim needs/should be a bit smaller FOR NOW! There's a difference! I mean, come on, use some common sense! There is just way too much that needs to be done locally before you even set ambitious goals internationally such as being top 3 in the region.
@ Anonymous February 16, 2011 You overestimate the competition in SE Asia.Why dont you see which teams we are talking about? Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam. Maybe Thailand if they get their act together. We already beat Vietnam. Thats one game but still results speak volumes. But i dont think Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia or Brunei are better than us. How would you aim smaller? Were talking about the national team. What should be the goal?
ReplyDelete@ Jay -
ReplyDeleteI overestimate the competition? It's clearly you who underestimates the competition.
Wow. We beat Vietnam but they clearly dominated that match. That was just a one off result and doesn't all of a sudden show that we're this very soon to be dominant force in ASEAN football.
That's another thing, HYPE! You're easily caught up in it and you make crazy conclusions/statements like "Singapore, Myanmar, etc aren't better than us". Foolish. I could agree we're better than Brunei and even Timor-Leste but the rest? lol!
I know we're talking about the national team. That's right, aim smaller. What else do you think? It should be to remain competitive while setting goals and standards domestically. Anything else internationally would be a bonus. We're barely competitive against Cambodia, we've never defeated Laos and Myanmar.... so on. Point is, you don't just go from being a minnow to a top 3 team in a short space of time. That obviously takes lots of time and it needs to be done step by step while maintaining sight. You can't let one over achievement make decisions and set goals for you.
Then how come we been seeded outright in next year's Suzuki Cup? If what your saying is true we should still be going thru qualifiers. Again Results speak for themselves. I say at this point in time we are among the top 4 at least in SEA. I have been talking about a professional local league for years and that no country can expect to prosper without one. I dont need a lecture on getting things done domestically first. You talk about how Vietnam dominated the game yet you are silent on how competitive the game with Singapore was and you can easily see how fast they were fading in the 2nd half. Regarding Myanmar. That game was pretty drab but in no way were we dominated. So it is not such a forgone conclusion that they are better than us. They let in 7 against Vietnam man..!! So definitely, we are better tactically than they were. Every team is judged by results and the Suzuki Cup is the only tournament held recently to gauge where the teams lie at this point in time. Ive never been caught up in all this hype as you call it (so you were that Anonymous who started this thread) and my decisions are based on results and compared it to previous tournaments. Not to mention having been monitoring Asian football for the past 25 years. In fact, I have also blogged about tempering expectations precisely due to the fact that people are getting excitable. If you cared to check first we are already ranked officially higher than Laos and Cambodia. Myanmar is just three places above us and they do not strike me a an Asean powerhouse. If iam foolish and crazy then you are at least careless in ranting off without checking the facts first. These conclusions are not crazy but are based on facts and actual performance head to head. In my mind, there are only four teams that are ahead of us - Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Admittedly, Indonesia and Malaysia are better. I rest my case on Thailand as they may have a better league but their international performance has been simply lousy and undeserving of their proud ranking. You say Vietnam was a one off game but it was still a game of football the last time I checked and the strategy we employed was not illegal. The fact that the Suzuki Cup defending champions and SEA games runner up playing at home couldnt break us down should at least merit that we are competitive. Me crazy? Its better than being cynical and unpatriotic. And unless your smarter than MVP who go his Masters Degree from Wharton, I suggest you call him about his misplaced notion and how he has foolishly thrown away 80 million bucks.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, based on what you said, your goal for the national team should be "remain competitive and set goals"? I would think thats the least we can do. It doesnt seem to be an original idea as I guess thats what everybody who has a national team is trying to do. You didnt answer my question. What kind of goals will you be setting for the national team? Were not talking about a domestic league and local standards. Your the one who brought up goal setting. I would describe a goal as something you want to be that is above or more than where you are right now. So which way are you going? up, down? maybe lateral?
ReplyDeletei like you Jay....
ReplyDeletehey pinoy...don't dreaming...! stay with basketball team ,you all good at it! OR build profesional football club first, because that is the first fondation of to build a strong team to compete with indonesia,malaysia,thailand and vietnam( viet gets better with their league)..singapore strong because of naturalizations player...build AFC standart infrastructures b'coz you will need it to host an international match...what you all doing right now is instant way ( calling out all overseas player( half breed) and it is not wise and not going to last forever..
ReplyDeletewithout nine players in the squad for citizenship can be won if the Philippines is not Vietnam? while they fight with elite nations, with the people who produced and played on their land and numerous lineup missing injured by pillars. If the Philippines with those born in the Philippines if they can beat the LAOS is not? very hard! if not Mancity Filipino as the Premiership or the Laliga REAL! Do not thrilled with the whole team and multi-racial citizenship as Filipino.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf the Filipino youth team as U13, U15, U19, U21 for a positive result against rivals such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar can then compete against other teams of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia. Philippines just like singapore, a football club really!
ReplyDeleteTaking the evidence in 2010 when the award is held in Nigeria U21 U21sing difficult it can rock with the U18 Vietnam and as a result lost 1-2 Goals by a player's Vietnamese! while the game is a one-dimensional posture of U18Vietnam
world cup 2014
ReplyDeleteThailand 1-2 Australia
Thailand 3-0 Oman
Thailand 0-0 Saudi Arabia