Villaflor: An event you shouldn’t miss

By Noel S. Villaflor

Footnote

Thursday, October 18, 2012
FOR the last few weeks, every other person I met asked me where to buy tickets for the Azkals vs. Singapore match in Cebu on Nov. 15.
My refrain was that the organizers were just ironing out minor kinks and that they have assured the ticketing process would be pretty simple.

I, too, was eager to get hold of some tickets, as Cebu Football Association’s Rico Navarro kept tabs of his fellow media practitioners about the situation.
Finally, the CFA announced last Tuesday in a press conference (which I missed due to some other urgent matter) where the tickets would be available: online at www.smtickets.com and SM ticket outlets such as SM Cebu and SM Consolacion.
By Tuesday evening, prior to the Azkals vs. Kuwait telecast, I checked the site but the link to the Cebu event wasn’t up yet. The following day, there were reports of minor glitches in the system.
I received more texts inquiring about the text. One of them, UP High alma mater Bartz Bontilao, who was texting me since Sept. 5 about the tickets, said his teammates from Stream Football Club are giddy about the event.
“Morag ubay-ubay jud ming manan-aw (It looks like there’d be a lot of us watching),” said Bartz, who happens to be a mean defender on the pitch.
My cousin Mylene of Guiseppe Football Club also gave me a call, saying her entire family and many of her friends also want to see the match, dubbed “Azkals vs. Lions Face Off in Cebu City.”
I offered to check for her whether the online outlet was up and running. It was, and I ended up buying four tickets for my wife Bretha, daughters Amber and Arwen, and son Cyan. (So, yes, Mylene, it’s good to go.)
The entire online process is so convenient, once you get past the registration part,
although you’ll have to pay a P20 online fee per ticket. (A football buff posted on Facebook that he also finally got his ticket from SM Cebu, after falling in line for an hour, which no doubt, is all worth it.)
Now here’s the situation: if you’re a football fan and have plans to watch the game live, I guess you should buy your tickets right away because they’re selling fast, unless you’re waiting for the VIP tickets, which will be made available on Oct. 22 yet.
There’s never been any doubt that this match is going to be a huge hit among the Cebuanos.
You see, Cebuanos know a good one when they see one. And the Azkals vs. Singapore match is one event that even non-football fans, always hungry for a good performance, will definitely enjoy.
And for the benefit of those who wish to watch out of curiosity, it would help to let them know that the Azkals play an exciting brand of attacking football, one that mixes vertical and possession play.
In other words, the Azkals we have right now play not just to survive against quality opposition but to actually win, the way they did against Kuwait last night. The Azkals lost 2-1, but it’s the kind of scoreline that should terrify the likes of Vietnam and Thailand, both ranked lower than Kuwait but higher than the Azkals, because they know that this Philippine side can actually beat them at their own attacking game.
And when you have a team like the Azkals that plays to win, spectators who bother to troop to the Cebu City Sports Complex stadium can be assured of getting their money’s worth, if not having the time of their lives.
Some call the Nov. 15 encounter a grudge match, with the Lions itching to avenge its earlier 2-0 loss to the Philippine side in a friendly.
For the Azkals, the encounter’s importance cannot be trifled with: it’s their last preparatory match before flying to the warzone that is Bangkok for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 tournament.
For the organizers, it’s Cebu’s date with history, being first football match between two international squads on Cebu soil, a watershed event of sorts.
In the end, all this boils down to quality football being played here. No doubt it’s a must-see event. But the question hangs: will you be there when it happens?

(nsvillaflor@gmail.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 19, 2012.