The haze around the teams which are going to be part of the 2012 Nehru Cup football tournament to be hosted by Indian football federation AIFF is becoming clearer now.
It has been reliably learnt that the Nehru Cup 2012 will have 5 teams including India. Syria, Jordan and Kenya have confirmed their participation which leaves room for one last team.
This being a marquee event, AIFF will surely try to bring at least one top tier team from Africa to increase the attraction. The negotiation with Nigeria the Super Eagles failed. The Nigerian FA was willing to participate but due to the opposition of the Nigerian football team coach, they backed out.
At this moment, AIFF is negotiating with two other top-tier African teams. One of them, Cameroon, has given verbal agreement but AIFF is still awaiting their written commitment on the matter.
Cameroon are ranked 59th in FIFA Rankings. Just 2 rungs down at 61 is Senegal who are being seen as a backup in case Cameroon does not participate.
What if both these teams back out? AIFF have got interests from 3 other nations namely Afghanistan, Maldives and Philippines the Azkals.
On Philippines
The Azkals may have defeated us in the AFC Challenge Cup concluded recently in Nepal but they are not the team I would like to see in Nehru Cup. They are very inconsistent. The reason for this is that they depend heavily on foreigners who somehow have some Filipino connection. The home grown talent is negligible. One of the proofs is their recent debacle in the AFC U22 Championship Qualifiers. If the players manage to assemble from all over the world in the last moment, they will be a good team. But during the period of this tournament, it is highly unlikely that those players will be released by their respective clubs.
Verdict: Thumbs Down
On Maldives
Maldives have a great player in their team, namely Ashfaq Ali. Another exciting player is Thoriq, though he is semi-consistent. Although I would say yes for these to players, they are not exciting as a team. Their performance in SAFF Cup 2011 was poor to say the least. Recently they got thrashed by Turkmenistan whom we have made a habit of thrashing. So they would not be a competitive side. And aren’t we bored of them?
Verdict: May be
On Afghanistan
Afghanistan have improved vastly in a short time. From favourite whipping boys 2 years back to the finalists in SAFF Championship was a great leap. And even in the final, they showed that they were worthy of the place. It would have been exciting to see how the match would have turned up without the red-card to Afghanistan. Till 70 minutes they gave a tough time and then conceded a penalty. Afghan captain and goalkeeper lost his cool and pushed the referee. Then it was 4-0 for India in 20 minutes. Every Indian and Afghan football fan would want another game to be played between India and Afghanistan. And what better opportunity than Nehru Cup? The memories, the rivalries are all fresh in our mind. So let us play!
Verdict: Thumbs Up
Indian Football Network
Brunei's squad against Russia
1 week ago
The comment about Philippine team is correct I think...without the reinforcement of our oversea players the National Team is just a whipping boy team which would be thrashed in the tournament when playing vs. Syria or Jordan (and the other teams). To spare us that new embarassment the PFF should reject the offer (just in case they would ever get one)
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean reinforcement by our foreign based players? They are not just reinforcement you idiot. They are vital members of our NT. When will people ever realize that our NT is that of a mixture of foreign based and locally based. In other words that is our very exact team; no reinforcements as you and others suggested. The very fact is that our NT is not like any other NTs that fields locally based players mostly. Ours is globally based. Get over it.
DeleteNice and correct verdict. It was funny reading it, made me laugh coz its so true.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Well, lets just hope our NT will improve more on the pitch, especially our home grown players.
ReplyDeleteOh and if India wants an exciting match, why not invite Spain, Germany, and Uruguay. lol
while it may be true that our national team is crappy without our euro based players they must not forget that india is still a shit team. they are a cricket country, along with the rest of the south asian countries like bhutan, sri lanka, bangladesh. they are shit, their region is a shit region for football. thats why when i learned that they trash turkmenistan on a regular basis really boggles the mind.
ReplyDeleteI guess we have to keep beating these Indian shits a couple of times before they finally realize that the Azkals are for real.
ReplyDelete@rhk111
DeleteIndian shits? Racist much? lol. Seriously though, you can't blame them for doubting us. We beat them and eventually got 3rd in the AFC Challenge Cup but Caligdong was the only homegrown player that played regularly. Without our non homegrown players, we wouldn't even have qualified, let alone get bronze. You even said it yourself, developing the locals will take decades which is true. But because of that there will be inconsistencies when it comes to the national team and other countries like India in this case will wonder what our real level is.
You also say we have to compete with basketball for the best athletes? lmao! I'm not a basketball fan but that's a load of crap. Blaming other sports for the lack of development in football is just childish and flat out stupidity!
And finally you also say there's hope with this 9 yr. old kid Reyes. lmao!! Wow, so the hopes of Philippine football rests on his shoulders?!? I don't even know where to begin with that one. lmao!!
Shit, why can't people get over this issue foreign based players. Look einstein our NT is of mix players from dif edges of the globe. That is our NT so stop factoring in local only team coz that I not our reality. Get that in your head people.
Delete^^You're a fucking moron then! If someone refers to Schrock as a 'foreign based player' they're being racist or anything! lmao!! It's a fact!!! How the fuck else are you suppose to differentiate players who are plying their trade in the Philippines versus the ones playing abroad?!?!? Go ahead Einstein tell us!!!! At the same time, it's a legit issue to be talking about!! But of course someone like you wouldn't understand that. Like I said you're a fucking moron!! You're too fucking sensitive and make issues of non-issues!!!
DeleteFil-Foreigners are still FILIPINOS, it is only you Basketball-Shits who keep insisting otherwise, making an issue of out it in Football despite the multitude of undersized Fil-Fors multi-millionaires in the PBA.
DeleteAnd to the dimwit who posted under the name "Anonymous20 July 2012 17:31", have some balls to post your handle here, instead of posting your stupidity anonymously ... LOL.
Delete^^So why don't you tell me where the term "Fil-foreigner" was used?!?!?!? The term that is being used is FOREIGN BASED!!!! There's a fucking difference and there's no other way to put!!! Same thing when talking about homegrown players vs non-homegrown!! But of course only fucktards like you wouldn't be able to comprehend that and take offence!! lol! No shit the likes of Schrock are FILIPINO but at the end of the day he is FOREIGN BASED!!! Can you not get that in your tiny head of yours?!?!??!?!
DeletePosting stupidity anonymously?!?! lmao!!! This is a fucking blog you moron!! Posting as an anonymous is perfectly fine. If you want to post with your stupid little handle of yours, that's all on you!
Clearly you are an IDIOT, an gutless one at that.
DeleteSo what if they are "foreign-based"? They are still FILIPINOS, unless that Cockroach brain of yours tells you otherwise.
Pumulot ka muna ng IQ diyan sa tabi-tabi, bago ka mag po poste rito, at nagmumukha ka lang TANGA. LOL.
Azkals is for real if we are winning with or without the foreign-based players...in short develop the locals...
ReplyDeleteDeveloping the locals will NOT happen overnight, especially since we have to compete with Basketball in getting the best athletes. It will take YEARS, even DECADES for that to happen.
ReplyDeleteSo for the next DECADE or so, we don't have a choice but to rely on Fil-Foreigners. But there is hope, in the form of 9 year old Sandro Reyes, who is now training with FC Barcelona's Farm Schools:
- http://youtu.be/xicc-R-L0Yg
Guys always remember that everybody is entitled to their opinion expecially these guys who doubt our interest in the Nehru Cup.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, they invited us, we didn't present ourselves, they wanted us to play. This is the Nehru Cup organizers.
Second, it was not luck or due only to our Pinoy Players from abroad that we secured a third place finish in the AFC Challenge Cup. It is also becuase of the whole NT. If you watched the qualifiers;
1. Against Myanmmar (1-1),we played well, YANTI BERSALES almost got the goal by himself but was kicked in the face but we got our penalty kick thru James Younghusband. The play was done by Guirado and Bersales. Unfortunately, the free kick from Myanmar got thru. Phil Younghuasband did not play here.
2. Against Palestine (0-0), we defended well and we attacked well but could not convert.
3. Against Bangladesh (3-0), 1 goal with Araneta and 2 goals with Guirado.
So we qualified, beating India and Tajikistan and Palestine to get 3rd place.
When Neil Etheridge did not play, Sacapano palyed well as well through, we gave up 3 goals.
My Countrymen, it was a group efort of our NT, Philippine based and Abroad based.
Let us not take away the glory from them. Si Ray Jonsson magaling mag-Cebuano, si Guirado ay Aldeguer ang gamit niya surname at iba pa.
They played for our Country, mga kabayan ko.
What our NT has done is a leap from another level. Our leap was not expected but it was very good.
"Anonymous20 July 2012 21:13" is right, our team now is composed of Filipino players from abroad and local players who are more than GOOD. Schrock is Filipino as he is German, and if he can help then good for us.
Stop removing the glory from our NT and from our country. We deserve this. Our NTs honor is our country's honor. Their win is our win and their loss is our country's loss.