By Cheska D. Geli
Saturday, February 5, 2011
FORMER Cebu-based Australian football guru Graeme Mackinnon returned to Cebu yesterday, after a seven-year absence. He made the trip solely to watch the Feb. 9 Azkals vs. Mongolia match in Bacolod.
Mackinnon has been involved in Philippine football since 1980, first with San Miguel in Manila. He relocated to Cebu and coached the M. Lhuillier team to the national title and also started a program in Carmen with Mario Ceniza.
Mackinnon said the Azkals’ performance during the Suzuki Cup last year opened a “tsunami of support” for football. He also said the social networking sites were a great help in raising awareness for the team.
The coach said the inclusion of overseas-based Filipinos like Neil Etheridge, Jason de Jong and Phil and James Youngshuband, who were exposed to the European football culture, to the Azkals has greatly improved the team.
For Cebu, Mackinnon cited the lack of a good football field as the main hindrance of the sport.
He cited the case of Bacolod, Dumaguete and Iloilo City, where football is popular and gets ample backing from the officials.
“The officials there love football, here it seems the politicians are engaged in a different kind of ‘football,’” said Mackinnon.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on February 06, 2011.
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