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Little Azkals rout Chelsea FC U14, 6-1

Photo credits: Anton Sheker

By Cheska D. Geli

Friday, January 25, 2013

JB Borlongan scored a hat trick as the Little Azkals routed the visiting Chelsea FC U-14, 6-1, in a friendly match yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Photo credits: Anton Sheke Goal.ph

The Little Azkals relied on their size advantage as they took on this club on their first meeting.

“Wala sila nag expect kay nakalitan sila sa among atake,” said head coach Oliver Colina.

Photo credits: Anton Sheker Goal.ph

Jed Diamante added two goals, while Javi Romero closed their scoring rampage with another goal.

Although they dominated the first half, Chelsea FC was able to adjust and catch up in the second half.

“Maka-ingon ko na more prepared ang mga bata and sobra sila ka-eager mu score,” said Colina.

Because of this, Colina has to remind his boys to not be too excited and to stick to the game plan.

Colina said that he was not expecting this performance from the opposing team but he will still not be complacent in their second meeting today.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on January 26, 2013.

Sports

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Former Azkals skipper Aly Borromeo dropped from Kaya lineup due to knee issues

AKTV: Mark DimalantaU

United Football League squad Kaya FC has dropped from its lineup former Philippine national men’s football team skipper Aly Borromeo for the upcoming League competition.

Borromeo, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury two years ago, is still unfit to make his return for the team, according to Kaya FC coach Maor Rozen.

“Unfortunately he cannot play right now. He is still in his recovery process,” Rozen told InterAKTV. “He is very intelligent. He understood the situation.”

Rozen, who was hired late last year after the resignation of former Kaya FC coach Kale Alvarez, said that Borromeo is a huge loss for the squad, which will also see the absence of veterans Lexton Moy, Armand del Rosario, Jason Sabio and Adrien Semblat.

“Aly Borromeo is one of the most important players in the history of Philippine football. His experience is very important especially for our young players,” Rozen said. “The problem is he cannot play. Right now, he has to check again his knee.”

Borromeo will still attend practices with the team to help him get healthy in the future, Rozen added.

A veteran of the national team, Borromeo tore his ACL in 2011 during a UFL match with Kaya FC. He then made his return on May last year, but did not see action in the UFL Cup despite being in the squad’s official roster.

Kaya FC fell short of the League title last year after lagging behind reigning champion Global in goal differential.

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Fil-Spanish striker Javier Patiño closer to becoming an Azkal

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino-Spanish striker Javier Patiño of Spanish second-division club Cordoba CF is expected to fly to the Philippines on Monday, January 28, to process his documents for him to be eligible to play for the national team, according to Azkals liaison officer Rafael Garcia.

The prolific striker who starts for Cordoba CF was originally scheduled to arrive in Manila on January 23 but conflict on flight schedules impeded him from taking the flight.

Garcia mentioned that the reason for the conflict is that he needed to fly back to Spain a day after his arrival for the training of his club.

"He was supposed to arrive yesterday (January 23) but there were difficulty getting flights. He's expected to arrive Monday afternoon (January 28) to complete all his documents then he needs to fly back to Spain the morning after for his club's training," Garcia said on the sidelines of the PFF-Smart Club Championships press conference.

Upon completion of the processing of his documents, the 24-year-old highly-anticipated striker only needs to secure permission from his club to suit up for the Azkals for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers slated on March 22-26 and for future international fixtures, according to Garcia.

"Javier (Patiño) will already be part of the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier roster and is expected to join the team for training next month and future international games," Garcia said.

Patiño, whose mother is a Filipina, is expected to add firepower to the Azkals attack with the anticipated team-up with Azkals striker Phil Younghusband upfront. - Rappler.com

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Little Azkals to battle Chelsea FC on Jan. 25

AFTER the cancellation of their three friendly matches against Singapore last December, the Little Azkals, or the Philippine Under 14 national football team, will go up against the Chelsea FC U14 squad on Jan. 25 in Manila.

Little Azkals team manager Richard Montayre said Chelsea FC’s management wanted the match earlier but he had to move it due to the Sinulog festivities. They also needed time to get the permission of the boys’ respective schools as they want team members coming from Visayas and Mindanao to be there at least two days earlier for team bonding and practice.

They would not have needed to be in Manila early if the training camp scheduled last December had pushed through, Montayre said.

The training camp, which was scheduled from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6, was cancelled due to typhoon Quinta.

The Chelsea FC U14, who is now in the country, had come from Korea and will be leaving the country on Jan. 28.

Aside from the Little Azkals, the visiting team will also be seeing action against other junior teams in Manila.

Montayre said that they are still negotiating on the venue either at the Rizal Memorial Stadium or in Alabang.

He added that the Little Azkals lineup will most likely be the same as that in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-14 Festival of Football (FOF) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON

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Azkals closer to signing up Fil-Spanish striker

THE Philippine men’s football team is closer to acquiring another potentially prolific striker from overseas.

Javier Patiño, a Filipino-Spanish striker who starts for Spanish second-division club Cordoba, is in the process of acquiring his Philippine passport, which would make him eligible to play for the Azkals in future fixtures.

A certification or “consularization” of documents from the Spanish embassy and permission from his professional club are the only two things that are keeping the highly touted booter from suiting up for the country.

Rafa Garcia, who acts as a liaison officer, among other duties, for the national team, said management has sent on Friday a letter to Cordoba and Patiño’s manager asking for the 6-foot, 24-year-old striker’s release for the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in March.

“The (Philippine citizenship application) documents, they're here in Manila. I’ve double-checked already, pero kulang pa rin," said Garcia when Spin.ph caught up with him after he watched Game Two of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals between Talk N Text and Rain or Shine at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.

"Hopefully, if his team will give him permission to leave, then we can have all the documents in Manila,” added Garcia, brother of Painters assistant Caloy Garcia and cousin of Azkals striker Angel Guirado.

Garcia hopes they can accomplish Patiño’s citizenship papers before the end of the month for the latter to make it in time for the Challenge Cup.

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Credits to Patrick Reichelt for this photo

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Such a lovely kid

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Libre lang…walang namang masama a!

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Pinoy club Global to play in Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup

By Bob Guerrero

The 2012 United Football League champs, Global FC, are looking to take their winning ways abroad in the AFC President’s Cup.

In a letter to acting PFF Gen Sec Ed Gastanes, Dato Alex Soosay, general secretary of the AFC said that the Organising Committees of the AFC President Cup and the AFC competitions committee had approved Global’s request to join the annual tournament.

The AFC President’s Cup is an international club event for emerging Football Associations in Asia. It can be said that it is the club version of the AFC Challenge Cup that the Philippines won third place in last year.

RELATED: The Passionate Fan Pinoy Football Awards for 2012.

Last year Tajikistan’s top club Istiqlol won the event via 2-1 scoreline over Palestine’s Al Amma’ri Youth Club in the final in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital.

Because Tajikistan’s representative won, its top club will now play in the more prestigious AFC Cup for clubs from developed Asian nations starting this year.

For the 2013 AFC President’s Cup there will be a group stage held from May 2 to 12, with the final stage taking place from September 23-29. It is not yet known where each stage will be held.

RELATED: Pinoy Football’s Top 25 Goals of 2012.

Last year ten clubs participated in the group stage in three groups. The top two in each group then played in a two-group round robin final stage, with the group winners facing off in the final.

The President’s Cup has been played since 2005, with Tajikistan clubs winning the trophy four times. Before Istiqlol’s win last year, Regar TadAZ had lifted the cup on three occasions.

Global will attempt to match the achievement of Myanmar’s Yadanarbon, the only South East Asian team to win the competition when they beat Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi Bishkek 1-0 in extra time two years ago.

For 2013 teams from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Turkmenistan are likely to participate alongside Global.

Global won the UFL League via goal difference over Kaya last June. They almost won a League and Cup double but fell in the UFL Cup final to Stallion 2-1 last month.

AFC competitions usually have a limit on foreign players, which will be a challenge for the team managed and owned by Dan Palami, who is also the Azkals team manager.

Global’s biggest offensive threat is Izo Elhabbib, who is Sudanese. Other foreigners also stud the Global lineup, such as striker Alex Obiang, defender Val Kama, goalie Roland Dely Sadia, Japanese midfielder Yu Hoshide, and German Kevin Capolei.

A Global eleven composed of mostly foreigners managed to hold the fort and beat Meralco in the UFL Cup semis in November while their Azkals were in training camp in Cebu for a friendly versus Singapore.

But Global also relies on several members of the National Team, like Patrick Reichelt, Carli De Murga, Juani Guirado, Demit Omphroy, Denis Wolf, Jeff Christiaens, Matt Uy, Marwin Angeles and Misagh Bahadoran.

When asked about restrictions on foreigners, Palami said that “we have yet to receive the guidelines. I’m just glad they approved our request.”

The Cup will be played during the UFL League season. While Palami is hoping that the UFL will gve them some leeway in the scheduling, he knows they may need to adjust also.

“We may have to split our team. It will be easier if they (AFC) allow more foreign players. I know that in the AFC Cup they allow five foreigners on the roster and three to play. I think the President’s Cup is more liberal (lenient).”

Palami was undoubtedly thrilled to make the competition. “I’m excited, but I’m more excited for Philippine Football than for the club. This opens the door for Philippine club teams to be part of a bigger arena. It will serve as more incentive for club owners to invest in teams.”

Global follows the lead of Loyola Meralco Sparks, who made their international debut in the Singapore Cup last year. The Sparks gave a good account of themselves, finishing fourth.

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Football Will Soar In 2013

Photo Credits: facebook.com/FCBEscolaPhilippines

Philippine GDP will grow by 8 per cent in 2013, thanks to strong infrastructure investments, surging consumption, election spending, double-digit growth in BPO employment, domestic tourism increase and the continuation of a housing boom. Such a forecast no longer excites me since I made similar predictions in the past. Over the last three years, I have been vindicated by reality. What makes me happier is the expectation that my favorite spectator sport, football, can take a quantum leap in the attention and interest of Filipinos next year. There are several reasons why I am making this optimistic forecast for football in our country, still very much mesmerized by the likes of James LeBron and Pau Gasol, whose physical heights very few Filipinos can aspire to attain. First are the triumph after triumph of the AZCALs against strong teams as those of Vietnam and Myanmar, even if they don’t manage to win the Suzuki cup. Then there is the increasing number of children enrolling in football clinics all over Metro Manila and in some cities like Cebu, Iloilo, Zamboanga, and Dumaguete. The premier event that gives me the greatest expectations about the beautiful game is the summer football camp in April 2013 that some coaches of FC Barcelona (arguably the best football club in the world) will conduct in key cities of the Philippines, thanks to the entrepreneurial talents of some young booters running a football club called Team Socceroo FC.

Team Socceroo FC is a football club in Manila established in 2005 by four brothers, Wool, Nicholas, Michael, Paulus Reyes, who were all graduates of football Powerhouse PAREF Southridge School. It is one of the numerous football clubs that have mushroomed in the Metro Manila and select cities in the Philippines, such as Iloilo, Cebu, Dumaguete and Zamboanga. The Southridge football team has won many football titles at the high school level in Metro Manila and nationally. Other PAREF schools in the regions, such as Westbridge in Iloilo and Springdale in Cebu are also champions in their own right. After they left Southridge, the Reyes brothers continued to nurture their passion for football and finally decided to contribute to the development of the sport in the Philippines by organizing Team Socceroo FC and launching their first ever football camp in 2010 at the Corinthian Village football field in Quezon City. Then they followed up year after year by opening two more football camps in San Lorenzo Village in Makati and Tahanan Village in Makati. It is targeting to open a fourth camp at the “Turf” in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

In a recent trip to Singapore, the Reyes brothers met with people of FC Barcelona and agreed to sponsor a summer camp in April 2013, in which two FC Barcelona coaches, working together with six local coaches, will train some 144 children in a five-day camp. Although there are other famous clubs like Real Madrid and Sevilla who have conducted football clinics for Filipino youth in places like Negros Occidental and Davao, it will be the first time that coaches of FC Barcelona will be coming to the Philippines to conduct football clinics for kids. It will be a especially meaningful summer camp because a nine-year old student of Southridge, Sandro Reyes, has been accepted to train at the Escola FC Barcelona in Barcelona City, the very same training school that is a prelude to the famous La Masia who produced the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas--all contenders or winners of the Most Valuable Football Player of the World Award. Sandro was chosen from among thousands of applicants from all over the world and has a bright future in global football, even if he does not immediately get to play for FC Barcelona after his training. Like Fabregas, he can first play for other leading football clubs in Spain or other countries.

I am especially thrilled that, as football gains more enthusiastic players and fans in the Philippines, future Filipino football players will be exposed to the famous tiki-taka style of FC Barcelona that has catapulted this Catalan team to the top of world soccer because of the consummate ability of its players to play as a team and not as individual primadonnas. This became especially obvious to me when I watched the AZCALs play with the Myanmar team last November 30, 2013. Without taking away the glory of the Filipino footballers in their beating Myanmar 2 - 0, I concur with the commentators who remarked that the AZCALs were not working as a team, compared to the young players in the Myanmar contingent who demonstrated better skills in passing and in making more attempts at scoring. I hope that as the younger generation of Filipino football players get exposed to the culture of cooperation and modesty as exemplified by Lionel Messi of Barca, the Philippines will benefit, not only in having more successful football teams, but from having future leaders in every sector of Philippine society who will know how to work in a team, rather than as brilliant loners, a continuing scourge of many Philippine organizations. My interest in football goes much beyond the sport itself, but in the values and virtues formation that can be inherent in the Barca style of playing the game. As I have written many times in my columns, I would like to see Filipinos being trained in the self-effacing and humble spirit of Lionel Messi rather than in the self-centered style of Cristiano Ronaldo or David Beckham (I apologize to the fans of Real Madrid for my bluntness).

As those who follow closely the Spanish League would know, Barca is currently 8 or more points ahead of Real Madrid, its closest Rival. Especially spectacular was the recent 4 to 0 victory of Barca over Levante, admittedly a weak team. What was very notable, though, is that for most of the match, all the eleven players on the field were products of the Masia training program. It was a delight to see all eleven passing the ball with exquisite precision and creating opportunities for one another to score a goal. My expectations are high that Barca will recapture the championship of the Spanish League from Real Madrid and the Champions League from Chelsea. Meanwhile, let us support Team Socceroo in its laudable project of bringing FC Barcelona to Manila. Those who are interested in sending their children to the five-day camp or in sponsoring some aspects of the program may get in touch with Jose Reyes at 0917 566 9739 or Michael Reyes at email address michaelmarireyes@gmail.com. Their website iswww.teamsocceroo.com. For comments, my email address isbernardo.villegas@uap.asia.

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The Filipino way to look guapo, papungayin ang mata!!

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Only warriors play football. When they fall, fail and lose, they get up, try again and fight to win.

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Weiss accepts defeat and looks ahead

Photo Credits: AFF

Singapore – Philippines coach Michael Weiss has accepted that his side came out second best in their AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final against Singapore but they will have little time to dwell on their 1-0 aggregate defeat as they prepare for their next big challenge in March. Formerly the whipping boys of the competition, the Azkals reached the last four for the second consecutive time this year only to go down to a 19th minute strike by Khairul Amri at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday. While the visitors had plenty of time to get back into the match, they were able to create very little against the well-drilled defence of the Lions. Weiss felt that the experience of the Singapore side ultimately overcame his own team’s hunger for success. “I think that they had an extra portion of experience, cleverness and coolness and also some deserved luck and also good preparation so I think that they were the deserved winners,” said the German. “We have to be honest, we didn’t produce too many chances and that was the thing that was missing. Our opponents also didn’t create too much but overall, I would say that they deserved it. “One team has to go home and unfortunately it is us. It would have been a fantastic achievement if we had reached the final but that’s the way it is and in sports, you have to show dignity and grace when you lose and just continue.” Weiss felt that Singapore’s physical approach made things very difficult for his side to get into the game. “We saw today that Singapore were very aggressive, especially on our number 10, Phil Younghusband, but no fouls were called and no yellow cards were shown for fairly obvious fouls,” he said. “However, we don’t want to bring the referee into this because it’s normal when you’re playing in the semi-finals that the home team takes these types of advantages. That was their strategy – to get our striker out of the game and not let us come into the game. “I think that you can only play as your opponents allow you and they didn’t allow much. The headers were impossible to win and on the ground, they were also very tight on the man and they didn’t allow many things.” The Azkals boss also lamented the loss of focus by his side that resulted in Amri scoring the only goal of the game off a quickly-taken free-kick by Shahdan Sulaiman. “Their goal was a gift on our side. We have been talking for the past 10 days when we were preparing to play against Singapore about set pieces, set pieces, set pieces and then we gave away a goal on such a simple set piece. “It was a very nice goal but it should not have happened.” Weiss hopes that the lessons learnt from this year’s AFF Suzuki Cup will benefit his side when they host a qualification group for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup three months from now.

“We do not have too much time to mourn because in mid-January, we will have to start preparing for the AFC Challenge Cup,” he explained.

“It’s a competition for the emerging nations in Asia and our goal is to win our qualification group and to get top place on home soil so that we can be one of the top eight sides that qualify for the final in 2014. Hopefully, we can win that tournament and qualify for the Asian Cup in 2015. “But to achieve that, we have to work hard especially on the offensive side, to get stronger, to try to get more ideas up front and to be more resilient and physically stronger. “Overall, I think it was a good achievement for us to reach this semi-final and hopefully we can build on this experience and prepare stronger teams with maybe some fresh young faces for the AFC Challenge Cup in the Philippines in March.”

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Singapore 1 Philippines 0

Singapore – Khairul Amri fired home the only goal of a tight contest as three-time champions Singapore booked their place in the AFF Suzuki Cup final with a 1-0 victory over the Philippines at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday.

The striker, who netted the winner for the Lions in their 2007 final triumph against Thailand, emerged as the hero once again when he was left unmarked on a quickly-taken free-kick by Shahdan Sulaiman in the 19th minute and fired home his second goal of the competition to give his side a 1-0 aggregate win.

The Lions dominated the opening half but the Philippines improved after the break although they rarely threatened to find an equaliser against the well-drilled Singapore defence.

Singapore will now meet either three-time champions Thailand or 2010 winners Malaysia in the AFF Suzuki Cup final with the first leg at Jalan Besar on December 19 and the second leg in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur on December 22.

The other semi-final is still finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday with the return game at Bangkok’s Supachalasai Stadium on Thursday.

It will be a third appearance in the final for coach Radojko Avramovic, who guided Singapore to victory in the Asean regional competition in 2004 and 2007.

“It’s absolutely great to get to the final and it is very nice that we have got there again,” said the Serbian, who has been in charge of the Lions since 2003.

“I think that over the two games, we were probably the better side and we deserved to be in the final. But Malaysia and Thailand are both good teams so it should be an excellent final.”

Singapore’s starting line-up was unchanged from the goalless draw in the first leg in Manila last Saturday with Isa Halim coming in once again to play in central midfield in the absence of Shi Jiayi, who had travelled to Shanghai to deal with a family emergency.

Meanwhile, the Philippines sported only one change from the first leg as Jerry Lucena, who missed his team’s last two matches to return to his Danish club Esbjerg, replaced Jason De Jong in central midfield.

After a cautious start by both sides, Singapore gradually took control of the contest with Shaiful Esah firing just wide from 20 metres with the first real effort on goal in the 11th minute.

The Lions went close again in the 16th minute as Shaiful’s corner from the left was flicked on to Safuwan Baharuddin at the far post who failed to get a solid enough header to put the ball on target.

But the home side broke the deadlock just three minutes later after Shahdan’s quickly-taken free-kick from the left flank completely caught out the Filipino defence.

He found Amri completely unattended 25 metres from goal and the striker had plenty of time and space to measure up his effort before he fired an unerring right-footed shot past a static Eduard Sacapano into the right hand corner of the net.

With the Azkal defence rocking, Singapore pressed forward in search of a second and they went close in the 21st minute when Shaiful’s shot from 20 metres flew just over the crossbar and again seven minutes later when Shahdan’s in-swinging free-kick was met by Baihakki Khaizan, whose header towards goal forced Sacapano into a save.

The Filipino goalkeeper was called into action again in the 32nd minute as he came off his line to stop a through ball getting to Shahril Ishak and then scrambled back to his goalmouth to make a diving stop after Amri had gathered the clearance and driven the ball back on target.

Shortly after that the home side launched a quick counter-attack with Shahdan setting up Aleksandar Duric, whose shot from the left edge of the box was kept out by another good save by Sacapano.

The Philippines were unable to carve out a real opportunity until the 42nd minute when Phil Younghusband’s low drive was comfortably covered by goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

In stoppage time just before the interval, a long ball to James Younghusband on the right flank caught out the Singapore backline but Izwan was alert and he came out to the top corner of his box to get to the ball just ahead of the winger.

Fahruddin Mustafic was highly influential during the opening half but an injury forced the central midfielder off at half-time to be replaced by Fazrul Nawaz, while the Azkals brought in Emelio Caligdong for Patrick Reichelt in a bid to fire up their attack.

The Philippines came out in a more assertive fashion at the start of the second half but they could not find a way through the tightly marshalled Singapore defence.

There was little real danger at either end until the 71st minute when Sacapano made a sprawling save to deny Fazrul Nawaz’s angled shot from the right. The ball rebounded to Shahdan but he miskicked and allowed the Azkal defence to clear.

The Philippines launched a quick counter and Phil Younghusband went close with a shot on the run that was turned around the left upright by Izwan.

However, it was a rare moment of concern for the Lions who safely kept the visitors at bay in the remaining minutes to book their place in the Asean Football Championship final for a fourth time.

After the game, Philippines coach Michael Weiss lamented the loss of concentration that resulted in the goal.

“Their goal was a gift on our side because we have focussed on set pieces for the last 10 days and yet we conceded on a set piece,” said the German, who guided the Azkals to the last four for only the second time.

“It was a nice shot by Khairul Amri but our defence should not have allowed it to happen.

“It was still a good achievement for us to reach the semi-finals and hopefully we can learn from this and come back stronger in the future.

“Singapore’s extra portion of experience and coolness under pressure helped them today and overall, they are deserved winners over the two games.”

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This is Schrocki on the pitch. Miss him??