Azkals set sights on Asian Cup, Suzuki title

By Cedelf P. Tupas

SEEKING to sustain the inroads made the past few years, the Philippine Azkals face bigger challenges this year as they bid for a place in the AFC Asian Cup as well as aiming for a first title in the AFF Suzuki Cup which the country is hosting in November.

Already out of contention for a place in the third round of Asian World Cup Qualifying, the Azkals seek the next best thing by cracking the 24-nation Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

The Azkals need to finish third in their qualifying group to gain an outright place in the third round of Asian Cup qualifying. They are currently in third place, just ahead of Bahrain on goal difference in Group H, but behind North Korea and Uzbekistan.

But the Azkals face the top two teams for their last two assignments starting with the Uzbeks in Tashkent on March 24 and against North Korea in Manila five days later.

For the first time in history, the Azkals will enjoy home field advantage in the group stage of the Suzuki Cup, the same tournament that catapulted the national team to fame.

The Azkals reached the semifinals in the last three editions of the tournament and team manager Dan Palami feels it’s about time the country finally claims the title of Southeast Asia’s most prestigious tournament to also rejuvenate the sport in the country.

The Philippine Football Federation plans to launch the national football league in early 2017 and Palami thinks the Azkals’ performance in the Suzuki Cup will also impact the reception of the league.

Crowd attendance has been down in recent national team home games with the match against Yemen drawing 6,500 fans last Nov. 12 when the Azkals suffered a 0-1 defeat.

“Getting to the finals or being champions will give Philippine football the necessary boost to launch its national league,” Palami said. “The performance of the Azkals will hopefully rejuvenate the interest in the sport.”

Read more: http://sports.inquirer.net/203431/azkals-set-sights-on-asian-cup-suzuki-title#ixzz3xASeKRU0

UFL News. UFL Cup to start on February 6

Competing teams in UFL this coming season :

Ceres, Kaya, Loyola, Green Archers United, Global, JP Voltes, Laos, Pachanga, Forza, Agila, and Stallion. The twelth team has not yet been set but it's likely either Nomads, Pasargad, or Navy Fleet Marine.

UFL Cup is scheduled to start on February 6 and UFL league is scheduled to start on April 21

Another big change for the UFL will be the reduction of the foreigner limit to just 4 on the field instead of 5. One of the 4 foreigners will also have to be Asian. This is in line with AFC guidelines for the AFC Cup and AFC Champions League. San Agustin said that in a squad of 25 players, a club may have more than 4 foreigners. But in its match day list of 18 (11 starters and 7 substitutes), there can only be 4, including the Asian import.

The UFL will be playing its matches at Rizal Memorial on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Aksyon TV will remain as the league's broadcaster for this season.

Thanks to Bob Guerrero , Rappler

http://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/football/118879-what-to-expect-philippine-football-2016?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=referral&utm_medium=share_bar

National league will foster football following

By: Percy D. Della

An eight-month study done by the local office of AC Nielsen says a countrywide professional league will foster support for football and the national team known popularly as the Azkals.

Nielsen is a market research firm whose business is knowing what people watch and buy in over 100 countries. It thinks that a national tournament of 10 to 12 teams and patterned after the United Football League, the existing local professional league based in Metro Manila, is possible.

Commissioned by the Philippine Football Federation along with a task force led by respected economist Bernardo Villegas, the analysis and its final outcomes will be unveiled pretty soon.

But PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta says implementation “will have to wait until we are absolutely ready.”

Araneta has read some of the qualitative and quantitative results of the Nielsen paper and promptly reports the highlights.

According to Araneta, Nielsen concedes that basketball remains the top spectator sport in the country, followed by volleyball, with football happily tagging along as the third choice of sports followers.
* * *
Out of 100 million Filipinos, 40 million are true-blue sports fans. About 17 percent are basketball buffs, 8 percent are volleyball followers and 5 percent are football loyalists, reports Nielsen.

Basketball and volleyball remain the 1-2 choice of television watchers of spectator sports. Interestingly, the study shows that football is making headway on the boob tube.

While 56 percent of Filipino football fans watch programs featuring their game on TV, this number jumps to 93 percent when they tune in to live tournaments from England and elsewhere.

Equally, the percentage of diehards watching local football live on TV surges from 3 to 34 percent when the Azkals are playing.

Araneta says the report points to several cities with existing football stadiums that can accommodate at least 5,000 fans; can put up and support franchises for a national league; and with solid fan foundations that can afford to go and watch games and buy team apparel and other gear.

These are Quezon City, Makati City and still unnamed cities in Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite in Luzon; the cities of Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod in the Visayas; and the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga in Mindanao.

Araneta said an official of Fifa, football’s world governing body, will arrive shortly, if he is not here already, to assist the PFF in its fresh endeavor to attract the backing of more fans.

Although football is the game with the largest fan following in the world, it has failed to attract large crowds locally, a situation that has frustrated the PFF for the longest time.

Read more: http://sports.inquirer.net/203073/national-league-will-foster-football-following#ixzz3wnIM9RlV 

UFL : Nomads Open Try-outs

Nomads UFL team will be having more tryouts next week. Looking for Filipino players with UFL or college level experience.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156406427945015&set=pcb.727073050727394&type=3&theater

UFL news

UFL is scheduled to start in second week of February. Nothing official from UFL.

Fil-Iranian Omid Nazari from Sweden has signed for Global Fc. He has played friendly matches for Iran but could be eligble to play for Azkals..

Azkals U23 player Jinggoy Valmayor (ex Pachanga Diliman) has signed for Loyola

Adrian Gallardo ex Ceres fc top scorer from Spain is back with his club Ceres Fc after a short stint in Spain

Azkal Stephan Schröck can leave his German club

Azkal Stephan Schröck who is playing for German club Greuther Fürth, has been told by the club that he can look for a new club reports German football website Kicker.

Stephan wants to play in midfield and not as right back , but he will get less playing time as a midfielder for his club.

He has been given two weeks from break from training with his club to find a new club.



http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/2bundesliga/startseite/642462/artikel_fuerth_schroeck-kann-sich-einen-neuen-verein-suchen.html

Azkal Luke Woodland has left his English club Chester Fc

Azkal Luke Woodland has left his English club Chester Fc .

He signed for the club in late October but left after less than two months in the club.

No news about about signing for a new club.

PFF to conduct try-outs for U-14 Girls football team

The Philippine Football Federation is inviting girls born January 1, 2002 and after to try for the U14 Girls Football Team (PHI-U14G) in preparation for the the JENESYS 2016 Japan-ASEAN Girls U14 Football Exchange Programme to be held on 10-20 March 2016 in Shizuoka, Japan.

The try-outs will be held on the following dates and venue:

DATE	TIME	VENUE
09 January 2016 (Saturday)	3:00 PM to 5:00 PM 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM	Rizal Memorial Stadium
10 January 2016 (Sunday)
11 January 2016 (Monday)	6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Players are requested to bring the following during tryouts:

1. Complete playing gear
2. Signed Parental Consent, Waiver & Release Form (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD)
3. Four (4) 2×2 photos on white background and taken in the last 30 days

The try-outs will be spearheaded by PHI-U14 Girls Head Coach Joyce Landagan to with Assistant Coaches Marielle Benitez, Isabelle Fernando and Patrice Impelido.

PHI-U14 Girls Head Coach Joyce Landagan can be contacted at mobile number +63 998 993 3900 or PFF at +63 2 584 6109 or email can be sent to phifootballfederation@gmail.com for any clarifications and/or inquiries.