TEEN AZKALS: The Future of Philippine Football

While all eyes are on the Philippine National Football Team or Philippine AZKALS as they prepare for the next qualifying game against Kuwait, the next generation members of the team called Teen AZKALS will be competing in the ASEAN Football Federation Under-16 Youth Championship 2011 in Vientiane, Laos from July 7 to 21.

The Philippine Azkals’ goal to qualify to the FIFA World Cup remains a question, as the long road to World Cup will entail them to compete with several national football teams including Kuwait who has been playing for a long time and is ranked 101^st to Philippines 159^th in the world. The Kuwait has appeared once in World Cup and 8 times in AFC, and has even won the AFC Cup in 1980. Even manager Dan Palami admits “the chances are quite slim but that is all they need to attain victory as long as they train with their heart.” And certainly the Filipinos are rooting for them, but whether they do qualify or not, the Azkals has brought football to the hearts of a country that has always been into basketball.

The future Azkals is also here. The Teen Azkals is composed of under-16 years old football players from different high schools in different parts of the Philippines. The team is led by head coach Tomasito Glenn Ramos and manager Alvin Carranza.

If given the proper support, I believe that the Teen Azkals can go a long way. The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has channeled some of their budgets for the further development of the players since these kids are the future of Philippine Football. If we do well in giving them the necessary support in trainings, mentoring, complete sports gear, and many more, the Philippine football will reap the rewards in the future. If properly trained, this may be the team to propel us to World Cup.

So I say let us all support the present, the Philippine Azkals, and the future of Philippine football, the Teen Azkals.

A Mom's Thoughts on Sports and a Black-eye

For the first time in 13 years I came home to see my son sporting a shiner. And as much as I wanted to fuss, I couldn't...I wouldn't dare insult my son. Just waited for him to show it to me and tell me what really happened. Oh, I so wanted to rush him, to ask him to give me a blow-by-blow account but I kept my lips sealed. I wanted to kiss it and make it well, but I stopped at just a touch at his cheek while asking if it hurts. His teammate was telling him to make excuses for what happened and he answered with: Why should I? My mom knows I play soccer and she has always said this is part and parcel of the sport . I remember seeing Fernando Torres of Liverpool once sporting a black-eye, too. Well yes so I always say that…he plays basketball and soccer, which are both contact team sports albeit limited-contact - meaning there are rules that specifically prevent intentional or unintentional contact between players and penalties can be incurred when...

Remembering 9/11: The Legacy of Marie Rose Abad

The Americans in the US were not the only ones paying tribute to their loved ones who perished in the different events that made up what we call the tragedy that changed the world, Sept 11. Maybe unbeknownst to many Filipinos, there was one American married to a Filipino who died that day. And her legacy lives on in a once squalid and reeking with garbage slum in Manila turned into an orderly village that bears her name with 50 brightly one-storey colored homes built in her memory by her husband. As the world pays tribute to their fellowmen in the US, residents of Marie Rose Abad GK Village offered roses, balloons, and prayers for their benefactor. According to her Philippine-born American husband Rudy, he had it built in her memory in 2004 as a tribute to their 26 years of marriage and her unfulfilled desire to help the poor in the Philippines. This she saw when they first came here in 1989. After having described to her the Philippines as a paradise, they were appalled to see t...

Anything & Everything

Search This Blog