Philippine Men's National Football Team: Net Effect

Net effect

The Philippine Men’s National Football Team makes a sudden impact in the 2010 Suzuki Cup. Here's a back story to what happened. This also appears in the Dec. 8 edition of the Business Mirror.

commentary and pic by rick olivares

During the press conference for the Philippines-Vietnam match, I raised my hand for the last question of the affair. I asked Vietnam head coach Henrique Calisto if he thought that the capacity crowd at the My Dinh National Stadium would be a lift or a burden to his team.

Lo and behold, he proceeded to give his most passionate answer to any of the questions posed during the 45-minute long press conference. To say that his reply was very revealing is an understatement. It actually foreshadowed the fallout from the loss.

Vietnam are the defending Suzuki Cup champions as they defeated Thailand last year by an aggregate score of 3-2. To open their title retention bid, they thrashed a woefully overmatched Myanmar 7-1. But when the Philippines drew with Singapore 1-1 following a spectacular 94^th minute (injury time) goal by Chris Greatwich, there was cause for concern because of the manner of which the Filipinos battled the three-time champions to a near standstill.

It turned out that home field advantage wasn’t such an advantage at all. In a previous competition, they played Singapore to a scoreless draw and Iran to 1-1 score. Said the 57-year old Portuguese coach: “When we go to Singapore we won 1-0 and 2-1 in Iran. So if you think that it is important then it is okay when you score goals. When you play bad it’s not so good. Fans are good when you win. When you lose 1-0 or 2-0 I will see if they are good fans. We must win but it is not so easy play team that is weak in theory. The reporters and the media support us in good times but not in the bad. I wait for one bad moment tomorrow I hope the fans can help us to overcome the difficulty. And also the media so I wait for them to think different about the game.”

After the host team lost a shocker to the Philippine team 2-nil despite dominating ball possession, Calisto – in a Raymond Domenech moment -- refused to shake the victor’s head coach Simon McMenemy calling him an “unfair play coach” for the Englishman’s haranguing the referees and for playing an unattractive brand of defensive football.

Said a peeved McMenemy, “My boys were getting killed out there and the referees conveniently swallowed their whistle because they’re in Hanoi and dare not red card a Vietnamese player. Defensive football? What is the objective here? To win isn’t it?”

Less than 24-hours after the historic win by the Philippines that vaulted them to the top of Group B action (Singapore also has accrued four points and was in second while Vietnam was third with three points and Myanmar at the rear with no points after two losses), a press conference was held at the Hanoi Sheraton for the upcoming Singapore-Vietnam match where it is quite possible that the loser will be sent packing.

Before the press conference began, an angry Calisto approached Asian Football Federation officials about an article that appeared on the Suzuki Cup website that read, “Vietnam humbled by resolute Philippines.”

“Whoever wrote this doesn’t know football and has no respect for the game or my team. ‘Humbled’? What is that? Does the writer intend to humiliate us?” thundered the bespectacled Portuguese coach.

When the press conference began, instead of discussing the upcoming match with Singapore, he continued his tirade against football writer Michael Church who penned the article. “This is from the official website of AFF Suzuki Cup.” Said Calisto holding up a printout of the story that featured many unsavory comments about the Philippines’ win over his side. “This is not serious and it is sensationalist. And they have no respect to players. If this is happened to newspaper I can accept that because they want to sell but in the official website? If we are ‘humbled’ then we are in chains! But I am very proud of the quality of the game and I am very proud of the way we played the game. Whoever wrote this knows nothing about football.”

During the entire press conference, Calisto stared daggers at Church who sat a few meters away from him. So angry was Vietnam’s coach that he kept looking at the printout and at the end of the press conference, he cut off his assistant who served as the interpreter by calling out Church. “Why did you not ask questions? I know why. Because you feel shame.”

Calisto also to umbrage to questions posed by Vietnamese writers who asked if the loss meant a change in tactics and if the team was mentally fit.

If Calisto raged at the defensive nature of the game, head coaches competing east of Java, complimented McMenemy and the Filipinos’ play.

Former Manchester United Great and now Thailand head coach Brian Robson said, Thailand coach Brian Robson: "I went to the tournament where the Philippines and Laos qualified for the finals and I was that you can't underestimate any of those teams because they were well organized and they have had very good preparations where they've been together for three to four months.

Another Englishman, Laos coach David Booth, admitted that he was not the least surprised by the outcome. "I thought that the Philippines were absolutely terrific and I thought that their discipline was absolutely superb.”

Radojko Avramovic, coach of Singapore and known not to give even the faintest of praise said, “Their victory is good because it can mean that the quality of play in Southeast Asia will improve.”

The Serbian coach claimed to have followed the national’s stint all the way from the qualifiers in Laos last November. However, it seemed that the Lions, as the island state is nicknamed, took the Philippines lightly. Why not? After all, the team – never mind if they were missing half their squad – got crushed by Thai second division team Nakhonpathon FC 8-0 before their trip to Hanoi for the Suzuki Cup. The Philippines was supposed to play three tune up matches but after the shellacking, McMenemy decided to cancel the remainder of the matches for fear that morale might plummet.

What Calisto does not fail to understand is how the team has been beset by numerous problems from not having its full complement of players as many live and play abroad to the lack of a support system. McMenemy runs a basic 4-4-2 because his players at the very least are familiar with the field pattern of play. “If I ask them to play a 4-2-3-1 or some other style, it’s not fair because you need to practice it for some time for everyone to be familiar with it.” explained the new Philippine head coach.

During the initial press conference for Group B action last December 1 (Group A competition was held in Indonesia), Avramovic, Calisto, Myanmar coach Myint Aung, and McMenemy sat side by side in front of over 200 media men. Not one journalist asked the Philippine coach a question.

After the win against Vietnam, all the talk around the Asean countries was the former “whipping boys” and “minnows” turning the old order on its ear with one superb performance after another. As for McMenemy and the team (and its officials), they now have to keep answering questions about their stirring run.