The Galactic Azkals
By Ryan Fenix
Am I the only one who looks at a suspicious eye at the way we seem to suddenly scour the world for any footballer with half a pint of Filipino blood in them?
It is obviously great and important that we have these Fil-foreigners, seemingly coming from nowhere, knocking at our doors to suddenly want to play for us. It seems that the famed Filipino global diaspora has finally borne fruit, albeit in the arena of football. This however raises quite a few points of interest.
To label them ‘bandwagon players’ is every bit as harsh as labeling new Azkal fans (and football fans for that matter) as ‘bandwagon fans’. But you just couldn’t help but get this nagging feeling that somehow they weren’t as willing to be called up to the National Team when we were still struggling, or when the game wasn’t as popular here. That somehow, there was just this wee bit of hesitation to join a losing effort, or a lost cause, as it seemed for a time.
Which, of course, gives 10,000 respect points for the people who DID stick around. Both pure Filipinos and Fil-foreigners, alike. The mantra of ‘me against the world’ is not a new one. Successful managers have used this ‘siege mentality’ to galvanize players to form a winning team. And that winning team was almost in the form of the Azkals, as we bucked an indifferent and apathetic Filipino nation (pre-semis) and a hostile crowd (Bung Karno) to almost go to the Final.
To say that the bond between the players and the battle scars shared in the 2010 Suzuki Cup are priceless would be the understatement of the year. Even a thousand training sessions will never replicate the chemistry, cohesion and the shared bond between players and coaches.
Which brings us to this point in our fairly recent history.
It is understandable, nay, perfectly justifiable to send in a new German Coach. Given the impending support by the DFB. And perhaps to bring along his requisite Fil-German players. The lack of a coaching permit brings with it the perfect excuse.
It just doesn’t seem right.
I don’t recall the Dutch FA punching the speed dial to van Marwijk to give him the boot, not after he just lead the Oranje to an unexpected runner up finish. Did anyone really think Joachim Low was in any danger of being sacked? His German team didn’t make it to the final!
The PFF has its reasons, of course. And this falls under the category of ‘Football is Football’, whatever it means.
Secondly, the second comings of the German versions of the Younghusbands have me a wee bit worried. Local-based players have been marginalized as it is. It may be that they have the same level of talent, but not the same level of training and exposure. But what does it say if you train, week in, week out in the Philippines. Be a star performer in the local UFL, and yet knowing at the back of your mind that even if you score hat-tricks every other game, your slot in the final roster is threatened by Fil-foreigners who just jetted in a week before the tournament?
Granted that this problem is not endemic to the Azkals. Team selection and team chemistry has and will always be a problem for National Team managers, who only have a few days with them before sending them out to the battlefield. Club and country have wrangled and will always be at odds regarding the releasing of players for international duty.
However, football is a team game, where teamwork plays a crucial role in its success. We do not just throw in 11 star players and expect them to win it all. Especially 11 star players who hardly know each other, and whose egos may fill the entire pitch. Real Madrid found that out the hard way. Manchester City is finding out now. I hope the Azkals won’t have to go this same route. A sound and proper approach should be put in place, and perhaps not just a wanton selection of Fil-foreigners. We all agree, at the end of the day, talent is still talent. But not talent for the sake of talent. There are 11 different positions in the football pitch. And the beauty of the game is there are different roles to play in every position. The trick is getting people to perform together as one in the team. Fil-foreigners or Filipinos.
The 12th position and thus the 12th player on the team is the PFF.
Bottom line, we hope that the powers that be in Philippine Football know what they are doing. There’s unprecedented interest in the sport in general and in the Azkals.
Consider that the last game played by the Azkals was on December 19, 2010. And on January 11, 2011 was just the first day of practice. Yet social networking sites and media have been constantly barking out news items with primetime news airing clips of the training session. The training session!
Lastly, we would do well to avoid the mistake of Vietnam in the 2010 Suzuki Cup. Being burdened by the heavy expectation might be a millstone around the Azkals necks. After all, teams would know us and would have prepared mightily for us. The days of the Azkals being an unknown entity are gone, at least for now.
The pressure to win on home soil might be to our own undoing. We would do well to feed off the positive energy from our fellow countrymen instead.
James Younghusband said that in order to sustain the football momentum, ‘We should keep on winning.’ Do just that, Jimbo, please.
But with emphasis on ‘we’.
love this article, love this blog.
ReplyDeleteNice article! Ditto on the emphasis of working as a team.
ReplyDeletenice article. exactly my thoughts on McMenemy, Fil Fors, and the bandwagon mentality (and how media is hyping them). galing!
ReplyDeleteGreat piece.
ReplyDeleteThe Azkals who played in the Suzuki Cup showed they deserved to be in the Philippine Team with the "all-out" or "todo-bigay" way they played , with seemingly not a worry whether they'd get hurt. Will these new recruits show the same commitment?
Another thing, the Azkals team that played in the Suzuki Cup included the core that trained under Bulpin, and had a system in place. Mcmenemy effectively mined this foundation, and knew how to get the best from it. Will many additional players be better than keeping the core of the team for the Feb 9 match which is just a few weeks from now?
Lastly, will there be no weight given to players, team staff, even sponsors who stuck it out even during the difficult times, notwithstanding the need to form a team with the best players possible? Experience, good experience that is, must count for something somehow, for the good of the team.
Well written article. Nice finish. You got a keeper here Rick.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason that the Azkals had difficulties attracting players is that they did not enter any tournaments. The PFF also had a well deserved reputation for making promises to players to reimburse expenses and them claiming poverty when the player asked for his plane fare. Manager Dan is running things in a professional manner. That is attracting interest. If he had not stepped up, the Azkals would have ended up not playing for three years like the women's team. If a local player is as good as a foreign based Filipino player then they will get the job and the foreign player will be sent home out of pocket for their own fare. If a pinoy player wants to get better they should leave. Jonathan De Guzman left Canada at age 12 to make himself a better player. That is what it takes to succeed.
ReplyDeleteNice article! Admittedly, I'm a football noob myself so you can say I jumped the bandwagon. But the least I could do is do my homework and learn/watch/read what is needed to know about football. This increased interest in football has both good and bad effects, but let's hope the PFF is making the right decisions and that the fans will keep supporting them. =)
ReplyDeleteIf a fil-for doesn't gel well with the boys or doesn't show the same level of commitment as our other players then just kick him out.
ReplyDeleteLet us capitalize on this new found fame, get all the help we can get, let us not get stuck with the "debt of gratitude" attitude every time, this is a sport and Dan Palami is doing what he thinks is the best way to achieve victories in the future.
This might be debatable but just look at how Malaysia played against Indonesia and compare it to our game with IND, we couldn't even get a goal in, while the Malays scored a total of 4 goals in 2 games. Could we say we are the 3rd best team in Suzuki cup or would you say that the outcome will be different if we played against Malaysia?
We beat Vietnam 2-0, while China scored 7-1 against them, China, who is not even considered as an Asian powerhouse in futbol did it with ease, then imagine if we go up against SoKor and Japan.
Ultimate goal is to have our local talents play, but best thing right now is to rely on our brothers living elsewhere.
BANDWAGON FANS! Hahahaha, you nailed it Mr. Fenix.
ReplyDeleteWhy doubt the new fil-fors?? And brand them as bandwangons
ReplyDeletemany of them didnt play for the suzuki because
a. problems with passport, it takes time to do so
b. pff didnt officially approach them and their club. You cant approach the player alone, you should inform their respective club.
c. some were awaiting for the approval from their clubs
d. lack of effort of pff(paperwork, communicating) doesnt look serious enough to convince..this was true in the pre-dan era.
of course i am sure they are more interested because the recent success but it doesnt mean they have no intention
One this I like about Rick blog is the honesty and openness.
ReplyDeleteSure there are risk to whatever action the PFF, the team manager and the players make, in trying to improve the team, themselves, and their new claim to fame, so to speak. There are some obvious reasons for the changes taking place within the team right now. I'd like to point out a few.
1. The coaching situation is obvious. We need to comply with AFC rules. As much as we love Simon, we cannot change the rules of the game.
2. The most glaring thing I noticed during the Suzuki Cup is the lack of depth in our bench. It was not obvious to the fans, but we had some key injuries during the Indonesia games. Unfortunately the lack of depth on the bench, limited the options of the coach.
3.2011 is the start of a long season for he Azkals. We plan to progress past Mongolia in the AFC. Then there's the world cup qualifiers, and a proposed AFC sanctioned invitational. There is no guarantee that the key players on the team will not get injured or allowed to play for the AZKALS.
With these challenges, and the expectation of continuous improvement in performance, it was mandatory for the PFF and the manager to plan the year accordingly. Such was the reason for the immediate trip to Germany.
As much as I agree with the article, I feel there are reasons that needed to be considered before conclusion can be drawn. And that is just my humble opinion.
foo'so...no problem, these folks are worthy to play for the country as long as they have indigenous lineage.
ReplyDeleteBut that has to stop there no "cristian gonzales" [sic].
I am sure that these Fil-For didnt just jumped at the bandwagon coz a lot of them are already on the list of possible players... It's just that what as ANONYMOUS said that there are a lot of paperworks that needs to be done. It is great to have a pool of players, just for them to be competitive knowing that they'll fight for the position. For sure there is a system in the team that will sort the STARTING 11 from the rest thats why there's a tryout. Just because he's a Fil-For it doesn't mean that he'll be starting... Maybe if you're playing for a first Division in one of the top flight leagues in Europe then maybe he can do... A Fil-For player doesn't mean that he's that good enough so I cant compare it with a team like Real Madrid or City... Most of the incoming Fil-For are under-23 si it will be a good thing coz they'll get to know longer the batch that their gonna stick with... As for the "BANDWAGON FANS" I think it's good enough as long as we get people interested which is the Goal right? It turns bad only if they're turning their back once the team loses which is a "GLORY HUNTER" is a proper term. Another part of a "BANDWAGON FAN" is absolutely the ladies that only adore the team because of their looks not because of how they play. For me a true FAN are the one's who are at the teams back during good times and especially the hard ones!
ReplyDeleteInteresting article.
ReplyDeleteBandwagon Fans = same sentiment that I have.
Before the popularity of the Azkals - Philippine Football Team, the only one that was really known to many (ladies and lads) are the Younghusband brothers. With the rising popularity of the Azkals, how can we sustain it?
Are they watching because of the game or because of the players?
What will happen if we stop having fil-foreigners (good looking ones) in the team, will they still support the National Team?
I agree on the last statement, emphasis on WE. Football/soccer is a team sport and won't live solely because of "some" star players.
Oo nga, at some point decisions have to be made. We do hope they turn out to be good.
ReplyDeleteHow many Fil-fors are joining preparations for the Mongolia match then? There are indeed a lot of advantages to expanding the pool of players. No one player is indespensable - he can be replaced, the team is not dependent on him. Everyone then is on his toes, always doing his best to earn his spot. There is a deeper bench during competitions, replacements for injured players, a richer training experience for everyone.
What will remain to be seen is whether all the efforts will result in a team cohesive enough and talented enough to be able to compete. It's difficult enough that the competitions lined up are on the Asian level, much higher than the Suzuki Cup, and you have all these new followers expecting the team to continue winning.
It has been a huge accomplishment for the coaching staff and management how players of so different backgrounds were welded into a team. The additional players can possibly complicate things again though, specially since there are fewer slots to compete for. Pakibgayan uli. Hopefully the leaders within the team can manage this well. Hopefully they succeed again in developing more cohesion and team spirit.
In terms of developing a loyal fan base. it's also important to have enough familiar faces. If there is too much player movement, it might affect fan loyalty. If the team becomes a 100% Fil-foreigner team, it is also possible that the fans won't feel that connection with the team.
I suppose this is being done already, that a significant number of younger players (under 23) are brought to the team 'B". The experience of training and playing with the Fil-foreigners will be huge for them, and will serve the Philippine Team well in the long-term. Who are these young players brought into the training pool, and how old kaya are they?
We'll see how things turn out. And we're hopeful things turn out well.
My god, TJ Manotoc doesn't even know who Roy Hodgson is! ABSCBN should have more competent football journalists.
ReplyDeleteAs the father of a new fil-for trialist (born here) I fully appreciate why you guys want 11 Pinoy Azkals, but Rome wasn't built in a day and the last Filipino coach of the national team has been quoted as saying it will take at least 30 years before that happy day happens.
ReplyDeleteDon't despair! It will come a lot quicker than that now that those useless tossers in the old PFF have been booted out. Dan Palami is a gift from the gods and with billions of pisos now guaranteed from Germany, FIFA and other countries football will finally burst into flower.
Filipino youngsters have all the ability, agility and desire needed to become skilled players, but without adequate facilities and decent coaching those talents will remain untapped. It's a huge and hugely expensive task (and if you'll excuse me the Philippines is not famous for completing municipal projects efficiently or fairly) but if everyone who loves the beautiful game gets involved and puts their shoulder to the wheel things will certainly start rolling faster.
Which brings us back full circle. Until enough home-grown talent matures we'll just have to live with the reality that most of of the national football team must remain fil-fors if we want to taste the sweet smell of success.
And that smell will knock you off your feet after the game in Bacolod!
Good luck to your son!
ReplyDeleteA big limitation of home-grown talents, aside from the things you mentioned, is exposure to high/top-level competitions and opponents.
Certainly no partiality towards a Fil-for or a home-grown Pinoy. The best eligible players deserve to be a on the team. The big advantage that Fil-fors bring to the team, and to their teammates is exposure to big-time football (football is the number one sport in the countries that Fil-fors come ) - opponents, competitions, coaching, sports scienc, etc. Filipinos - and I'm sure your son is one of them - sparkle when in a healthy environment for their field of interest or talent.
Fil-fors have made international success a possibility .
What the home-grown players can bring is that hunger - desire, as you mentioned, burning, I might add - with which they play. "Todo-bigay", which means they give it their all. It's difficult not to see this in local competitions , no matter what age-group. That's certainly the attitude that can help us catch up with competition.
The Azkals play in the Suzuki Cup showed this melding of the high-quality play brought by the Fil Fors , and the "todo-bigay" spirit brought in by the home-grown talents, which rubbed off on each other. I'm very hopeful that more of this will happen with all the player and coaching movements that are happening, in spite of the challenges.