25 March 2013

The Azkals and the State of Philippine Football: Hopeless or Hopeful?

By: Sherwin Redondo


Football is the game of the masses and should be played by the masses. That is a known truth globally. But in a basketball-crazy archipelago (thanks to Uncle Sam), that flushes 300 plus years of Spanish influence down a filthy LTO toilet including playing "the beautiful game" - fĂștbol el juego bonito. Pinoys have the biological make up to be great footballers: not too tall, can burst with speed, and are born athletic.

Funny how those idiotic know-it-all PBA commentators and analysts have given us false hopes that a Johnny A or a Japeth Aguilar would be breaking ground in the NBA. Pathetic. Football is the avenue where we can get the much coveted glory and the silverware. Or can we?

Honestly, I realized my cynical interest in bashing the football scene locally when I first heard my nieces talk and giggle about how gorgeous the Younghusbands, Guirados, Greatwichs of the Azkals are. Imagine that, having these Fil-Foreign players come in brotherly pairs; why not throw in their fathers as well and maybe he can play manager or coach?


I slowly made a DIY immersion of who the Azkals were and how they were performing. Slowly I realized the many cracks in their glamorous poster boy facades. Do they really think that sourcing out the offspring of our OFW heroes and immigrants abroad who play decent football can actually put 'Las Islas Filipinas' in the global football map? The Philippine Football Federation's bucket list is to mix up local homegrown players and Fil-Foreign players in an all-out effort to boost success of the national team.. Let's see -- they've got Fil-European players: Spain (Guirados, De Murga, Patino), Germany (Shrock, Ott, Cagara, Muller), Iceland (Jonnson), and England (Younghusbands, Gier). Pinoys are by nature into that foreigner-with-Pinoy-blood "hugot" system. Especially in sports. Remember the Fil Shams in the PBA? Since we're at it, why not look for the Fil-Brazilians, Argentinians, Mexicans, and Africans, right?

First, though, a little trivia about where the Philippines ranks in football worldwide as per its supreme governing body FIFA. The worst ever Pinoy FIFA ranking was during the World Cup in Germany 2006, where the Philippines ranked at a hilarious 195th. With the resurgence of the sport supported by the media hype and the frequent so-so performance in friendlies and tourneys, we improve to a rank of 145th. Big deal. It reminds me so much of Bruce Willis' music career – it just would not take off! The last time we had a big win internationally was against Japan, with a score line of 15-2, but that was way back when the US declared war against Germany in WW1. This is why I feel the Azkals recent win over Cambodia, a team ranked 185th, is no reason for a big celebration. Cambodia would have trouble finding success in our own local league, the United Football League.


No, don't get me wrong. I'm not a hater. I just cannot completely accept a National Team that is prematurely hyped and celebrated already as champions and media darlings, with only a few home grown true blooded Pinoys in its lineup. But to be fair to football fans, and to give credit where credit is due, let's dissect the anatomy of these sporting "heroes."

More : juice



20 comments:

  1. The proper argument here would be against the media. Not the national team. Media is full of crap these days. Well written at least

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  2. Brace yourself
    the butthurt posts are coming

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  3. To Sherwin Redondo:

    Congratulations on a well written article.

    Sir, you are probably a true Filipino from the days of Lapu-lapu. You must also have the true genes of a Pinoy with crab mentality. Please go to Saint Luke's Hospital and have the laboratory technicians check your DNA. It may reveal that your mental capacity to think is from a 300 year-old man.

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  4. Dami ring homegrown na parang foreigner umasta. Yung inglis ng inglus at ayaw sumakay sa jeep. Tamad at reklmdor p.

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  5. Another fucking idiot making a "hate" blog in the hopes the people will finally get to talk to him (or her. LOL). The Azkals is a NATIONAL TEAM, competing in Football representing the Philippines. What more excuse do you need than that to support it?

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  6. It is obvious that this guy or gal doesn't know anything about football. Even England had the same scoreline after defeating the second lowest ranked team in the world. It is not easy to score 8-0. We the likes of Rooney, Lampard etc. they only manage to score 8 goals against a team that's lower than Cambodia.

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  7. Daniel "Danny" Williams (born 8 March 1989) is a German-born American soccer player who plays for the Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and the United States national team.

    Sounds familiar? Just like the players from Azkal. Stop this stupidity

    Plus, overseas Pinoy brings their dollars here for tourism

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  8. It just shows this writer is not a football player and is dumb ignorant...

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  9. Guirado lost his job for playing too much with the Azkals.

    Dumb ass. At least we don't need to pay millions of pesos and have them naturalized just to play for our country.

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  10. Yet another high school level so-called journalist posing as an informed sports spectator. He needs to do his homework.

    Does he know that many/most of the world's best teams have players that learned their game and earn their living outside their country of birth? That's just the beginning.

    Troll......

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  11. While they're working on our grassroots programs and strengthening the local league, recruiting from abroad for the meantime is the logical thing to do. We need those Fil-European players, whether we like it or not. I'm not going to waste my time second-guessing their intentions for suiting up for the Philippine team. The fact that they suit up for the Philippine team is enough for me. Besides, they are the ones who are willing and able to play. Hindi naman nagkulang ang team management sa pag-recruit ng bagong homegrown talents. Ang problema kasi, yung mga bagong homegrown talents mismo ang nagba-back out after just one training camp. They feel they are entitled to play as starters, and when it doesn't happen, they quit. That's why we often see guys like Araneta, Gener and Margarse still in the lineup, because they are the ones who are willing to work for it. And Coach Weiss has said before that he'd rather have hard workers on the team than talented but lazy players with bad attitudes.

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    1. Like this comment ^

      Agree on that. Thats why i find it hard to understand why people downplay the national team too much just because of the players backgrounds. Its not like we have a proper league in place to choose a pool of players from at the moment.

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    2. Agree on all points. However, Govt, PFF, Media and fans should support the under 21,under 17 and youth national teams which should be used to hone our own future home grown talent. This means more friendly games with other countries better funding, scholarships etc.

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    3. Kung may nagtataka pa kung bakit parang mas maraming Fil-foreigners sa team kaysa locals, ayan ang sagot. If you want to blame someone, direct your hate toward those prima donna quitters. I dunno about you guys, but I don't want lazy, whiny brats representing our country, kahit mga "pure" Pinoy pa yan.

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  12. Here is a quote from Albert Einstein: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

    The writer Sherwin Redondo is a living sample that proves Einsteins theory is correct.

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  13. eh kasi nga as you have said sikat ang basketball dito, therefore walang magaling mag football dito as of now. So kung dito lang sa pinas kukuha ng players, trust me khit timor leste patataobin tyo

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    1. Out basketball isgood only in asean. To join asia tournaments, our basketbal national team have no contest without foreigners being naturalized.

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  14. I was about to write a rebuttal blog to this idiot's article, but then I realized that he's just an ATTENTION-WHORE, DESPERATE for exposure for that two-bit website of his named "Juice Philippines".

    Kulang Sa Pansin (KSP), hoping more people will talk about his pathetic site ... LOL.

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    1. to rhk111: haven't you checked the external link? this is the website's description about the writer: "Sherwin Redondo is the Juice Team's cynical uncle, distrustful and suspicious of the intentions of 99.9% of human beings on the planet. We don’t often share his grim outlook but the man speaks of truths most would be afraid to even think. And he does so with great passion and bravado. Tweet him at @captcromwell." Juice

      to the writer, It's a good point but I guess whenever there's someone or a group representing our country, it is best to support him or them no matter what...Go Philippines!

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    2. excellent point..

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