This appears in the Monday January 10, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
Hope springs
by rick olivares
As a kid, there’s this quote that struck me and it has stayed with me to this day – “where there’s life there’s hope.” I cannot remember where I first read it yet what I do know is that it much is true even after you get sucker punched. Here’s what I am driving at.
Last Saturday, two changes were made in two football teams I follow. Liverpool FC and the Philippine Men’s National Football Team.
The former was one of the top clubs in the world but in the last two decades has been in horrible decline marked by a few trophies here and there. It seems that a switch was flicked off and Liverpool stopped raking in the silverware.
I began to watch the Reds in earnest at the time of Frenchman Gerard Houllier. A few trophies were won but not the all-important league title that Manchester United began to claim as its own. The arrival of Rafael Benitez brought some magic. There’s Istanbul that LFC fans cling on to in the face of a withering assault by the Red Devils on the trophy record.
The good times ended. Then came the horrible owners, the acquisition of players who didn’t pan out, the disenchantment, and the failure to finish on top during the 2008-09 season despite garnering its best ever 86 points. That was pretty much the last hurrah of that team of Reds under Benitez. They slipped down the leader board. They were no longer in the top four but out of UEFA Champions League competition. Instead they had to settle for the consolation tournament – the Europa. Except they didn’t win it either. What a bitter pill to swallow!
Calling for the head of the manager isn’t pleasant business. I was one fan vocal about the change. How tough can that be? Benitez guided the club to those Champions League and FA Cup titles. He gave Reds fans hope that the club would win its first league title since Kenny Dalglish was the gaffer. It was messy and it tugged and tore at the Anfield faithful’s hearts. It was like letting go of someone who picked you up from the ground. Sadly, at the end of the day, the late LFC managerial great Bill Shankly was right. Some things are more important than life or death as Benitez was judged by Ws and Ls and the lack of titles.
Now Roy Hodgson, who replaced Benitez only six months ago, is out. It was sad that he inherited a mess not of his own doing. Key players Yossi Benayoun, Xabi Alonso, and Javier Mascherano left and that had to hurt. The result was the team further tumbling down the standings and is now fighting to keep away from relegation. Said Phil Thompson, Anfield legend, “I hate knee jerk reactions – this is not that – and I take no pleasure in saying this. But these are unprecedented times – we are wallowing in mediocrity.”
Hodgson left – like Benitez – by mutual consent. There are 18 Premier League games left and Reds fans are hoping that lightning will strike twice for Dalglish guided Liverpool to their last league titles. While hope springs eternal, the results however, remain to be seen on the pitch.
The latter team that bears my support – the Philippine Men’s National Football Team -- didn’t do much before. The accomplishments most associated with them is being a part of the formation of the Asian federation and having a 19th century Filipino-Spaniard play for the national team who to this day holds on to the all-time goal scoring record of FC Barcelona. As far as the national team was concerned – in an article I first wrote in 2006 – the opposing squads were making matches look like bird shoots.
I wrote then (in 2006): “It’s mind-boggling to see what the foreign teams have done to our teams in the last 21 years. In that span, we won six games and drew another six while scoring 36 goals. That obviously did not include the losses. The longest losing streak was 15 matches from 1996-98 but it would have been much longer had they not beaten Guam 2-0 in an Asian Cup Qualifier before they went on to lose their next nine. Even more unfortunate our opponents scored 252 goals against us in 75 matches. That’s an average of 3.36 goals per game.
Around 2006, I began to cover the team and there was a buzz about the team. So big that even PLDT sponsored the airing of their games in Panaad, Bacolod. Aris Caslib was the head coach and the turnaround began. Through the different coaches and players, it culminated with the best showing ever by the Azkals – as they are now called – in the recent Suzuki Cup. Which brings us to Simon McMenemy, the Englishman who coached the team for the tournament.
It was undeniable that he helped get this team to where it is. But it was tough knowing that he did not possess the necessary license to patrol the sidelines for the next tournament, the AFC Challenge Cup. The inexperience was there but he was a superb motivator. Some of the coaching staff said that he made great in-game adjustments.
Yet even before the team headed for Vietnam, the German football federation (DFB) offered to help in some capacity. Even then there was a possibility that if an agreement could be made, that there would emerge a new coach. Scenarios were considered regarding the Germans, keeping Simon, both of them working together, and others. It was a problem for sure. But a good problem. But the team and Philippines stood to gain a lot. When was the last time that happened?
And so a change was made. Cruel as it may sound and made messier by the preemption of the announcement of a decision. Football has become big news. So big that weeks after the Suzuki Cup ended they are still hot copy. As I spoke with team manager Dan Palami yesterday Sunday, January 9, 2011, for my inadvertent role in disseminating information that should have stayed under wraps, he assuaged my concern. “There’s so much more going on. Nonong (Araneta, PFF President) has a lot of news as well. At least it is nice to know that people now care for the sport.”
No comments:
Post a Comment