Philippine Azkals stalwarts Misagh Bahadoran and James Younghusband sounded out the call for the team’s 12th man—the home crowd—to step up as they bid for glory in the AFF Suzuki Cup starting Saturday when they face Singapore.
Gracing the AFF Suzuki Cup Trophy Tour at SM North last Saturday night, Bahadoran expressed hopes for more crowd support as the Azkals gun for a first Suzuki Cup crown, after three straight semifinal appearances.
The Azkals have been playing before fewer spectators compared to recent years in their last few friendly matches at Rizal Memorial Stadium, including the 1-0 win over Kyrgyzstan last Wednesday.
And with the current trend, it will be tough to fill the 25,000-seater Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, to its capacity.
“We really need your support,” Bahadoran addressed the crowd in the mall, where the AFF Suzuki Cup trophy was displayed.
The 30-year-old Younghusband said having a packed PSS could just give the Azkals the boost that they need to hurdle a tough group that also includes Indonesia and defending champion Thailand.
“We’ve experienced playing in large crowds in the Suzuki Cup and the atmosphere could get intimidating for away teams,” said Younghusband. “We hope to have that kind of atmosphere here.”
http://sports.inquirer.net/229393/azkals-appeal-for-crowd-support#ixzz4Pux5eBVh
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ReplyDeleteLarge Crowd? maybe in the visayas region. In Manila, I doubt...Manila will and always be a basketball country. The "miracle of hanoi" is no longer relevant. kahit ang mga fans MNT is divided. e.g ultras vs kaholeros
ReplyDeleteYan Ultras vs Kaholeros na yan ay isang malaking kalokohan. They should merge and sing as one voice. One of them has to give way and that must be the Kaholeros. They are embarrassing and amateurish. I think the Kaholeros came out of The Usapang Football group in Facebook with 120K members. 120K members and they cant even fill up a stadium with 10K seats. That group must be dissolved for it lacks leadership and the admin are only concerned about making money. Get rid of them ASAP!
Deletekasi hirap pa intindi sa pff eh.. sa visaysa area nlng kasi ilaro yan mga football events.. PASTILAN!
ReplyDeletewala talaga support sa manila area. almost every time nlng ganyan .. ilang years na pinilit na dyan i held mga football games, ilang beses na pinagbigyan. for the love and growhth of the game, iheld na sa different area.
Pagawa muna kayo ng malaking stadium ha? Kasi requirement ng AFC stadium lang na may 30K seats ang puede mag host ok? Sa inyo walang ganon pa eh. Kulitin niyo mga opisyales niyo diyan na gumawa ng malaking stadium. Yung Panaad puede naman palakihan yan. Mag petition kayo mga pastilan. Sa ngayon baka naman puede kayo magpunta ng Manila para manood puede naman siguro yan diba? Suporta na lang.
DeleteI heard na hindi na pwede maghost ang mga stadium na 15k capacity sa AFF tournament. Ang PSS stadium nga muntik na hindi maapprove maghost ng Suzuki cup dahil around 25k lng ang capacity. buti na lng pumayag din ang AFF. suportahan na lang natin ang Azkals. peace :)
ReplyDeleteang kulit niyo. oo nasa visayas ang mga fans. kaso nasa manila ang mga stadium! magpagawa kayo ng stadium jan sa visayas na 25k na tao mahigit ang pwede for sure jan ilalaro ang mga international games or tournament. kaso wala eh
ReplyDeleteeh kasi ilang years na yan d cla ng invest .. if na renovate nila ung panaad sa bacolod to have bigger sitting capacity.. wala na sana problema ..
ReplyDeleteIlang years hindi nag invest because minimum investment required is very big!! Even then, upgrading capacity isn't enough. There are a lot of other stadium criteria that needs to be fulfilled in order to host a big tournament. And let's be honest outside of the PSS and RMS (barely), no other stadium at present would fulfill the stringent criteria for hosting a big tournament.
DeleteMy last post got deleted. Why do the players go on strike after not getting 1000usd a game, how is the media unaware of such thing. My sources tell me they have all been paid now. Happy days.
ReplyDeleteBecause that news is not true. Its a malicious rumor being spread around by Eric Dimzon that ugly yellow teethed football hater who writes for Bandera.
DeleteLISTEN, PEOPLE. all of our problems stem from one fact: We are not (yet) a Footballing nation. Stop blaming this or that group, this or that association, this or that person. In a society where all that ever matters is money, we can't hope for a speedy football development if those with money can't expect money in return out of supporting football. Hell, even our national basketball league is a joke, it's just a corporate-driven league that has no relationship to the grassroots.
ReplyDeleteStop all the hate, chill, enjoy the game, and hope for the best. One step at a time, one year at a time, one game at a time. We'll get there. Have faith in the game.
I know. It's just these Visayans and their local mentality is not helping. I hope these Visayans will buy a ticket to board a plane or ferry to Manila to support the team instead of bitching about why Manila is getting hosting rights for the games. You should direct your comment at them!
Deleteagree. if you really are a football fan, manunuod ka kahit san pa yan lalo na bansa mo ang lalaban. sabihin na naten for example wala kayong pera, hindi na problema ng nagorganize yun. ang tagal na naten nalaman na tayo maghohost, sana nagipon na kayo paunti unti kung "FAN" talaga kayo ng sport. wala tayong magagawa eh. PSS ang naapprove na stadium eh
DeleteTama. These idiots are always barking up the wrong tree. Blaming PFF, Manila or Palami. They dont need to look far, look for their local politicians and punch them in the face!
DeleteVisayan here. Will be flying in for the games. Hoping to see a sizable crowd �� go azkals!!!
Deletemakakita ka man ng crowd or hindi, naaappreciate namen mga fans dito pagpunta mo thank you. let's all support our team.
DeleteAmazing, I am agreeing with this Anonymous, and also disagreeing with a number of Anonymouses. How can we make sense on who's arguing with whom?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, unfortunately for the Philippines, the major concentration is Manila. You'll need the infrastructure to host a big event. The players and their supporters/guests needs hotels, entertainment between games, transportation, restaurants for such an event. Only Manila can give such diversities for all the foreign attendees to enjoy themselves. Even the PSS is still out in the boondocks (bundok), with the BAD traffic through Caloocan.
in my opinion, for the next 20 yrs. only the Manila residents can make football a successful sport in the Philippines. We need a local hero, a Filipino named player with the football skills of Ronaldo or Messi and be known worldwide. To make my point here's a list of football heroes and where they were born.
Lionel Andres Messi Rosario, Argentina
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro Funchal, Portugal
Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Paul Labile Pogba Lagny-sur-Marne, France
Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz Salto, Uruguay
Alexis Alejandro Sanchez Tocopilla, Chile
Bryan Jafet Ruiz San Jose, Costa Rica
Keisuke Honda Settsu, Osaka, Japan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Malmo, Sweden
Luka Modric Zadar, Croatia
Andres Iniesta Lujan Fuentealbilla, Spain
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DeleteI always wonder why Honda is so overrated. Football hero? Really? Yeah he scored a couple of cool goals in World Cup but that's it. His club career has been far from being world class and he's nowhere near half as good as the other names in your list.
DeleteSorry but I am not Minnie I have a big winky!
ReplyDeleteimperial manila .. :D
ReplyDeleteO bobong Visayan o. Sabi ko sa iyo suntukin mo mga politico sa lugar mo. Lol
DeleteHi great blog u have here. Im from singapore and will be travelling to manila this saturday 19 nov to support my national team. Im excited to watch the game at the new philippine sports stadium, as well as to experience a live football game in philippines for the first time. Philippines is the only country in asean where football isnt the most popular sport. I hope to see football grow in your country and reach the popularity of basketball in the future as u guys have a strong national football team now.
ReplyDelete
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