This appears in the Monday April 25, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
Azkals dreaming
by rick olivares
Morris Tulang, Dumaguete
“Go, Morris!”
The exhortations from the crowd increased in frequency and urgency. With the precious minutes slipping away, Morris John Tulang, picked off an errant short pass by Cebu’s Jephunneh Pelanio that immediately triggered a Dumaguete counter attack that was born of desperation.
With 75 minutes gone by, the score was notched at 2-2. But for the home team and crowd, a draw was every bit as bad as a loss. They needed to win to keep their dimming hopes alive of qualifying for the next stage of the PFF Suzuki U-23 National Cup. Only two of the five teams from the Visayas seeing action in the cluster competition would advance. Bacolod was in by virtue of their four-match sweep. Powerhouse Iloilo’s entry was stalled by their 1-nil loss to Bacolod earlier in the day. Dumaguete badly needed to win this game against Cebu for their match against Iloilo the following day to have any bearing.
The Dumagueteños went down early 2-0 and all seemed lost until they drew level with two last minute goals in the first half. Cebu had adjusted well entering the final 45 minutes of play and the home team was left to mostly fend off repeated attacks and shots on goal. Tulang, Dumaguete’s inspirational captain and playmaker had scored the equalizer at the end of the first half, but at the reset, he had been marked well and had been unable to receive the ball.
“Go, Morris!”
Tulang sent the ball to striker Remelito Tabuñag in the left wing while a teammate and he raced to the middle to wait for a cross. Tabuñag, whose goal got Dumaguete’s rally going in the first half, ditched one defender and bore towards the box. Once there, he was dispossessed of the ball. Scoring chance derailed.
A few minutes later, Cebu scored to make it 3-2. The dagger of a goal was swift and so unexpected that it seemed that the collective yells of encouragement had been slit from the throats of several hundred Dumagueteños. The only noise one could hear were the pedicabs plying their routes across the street and Tulang’s voice. “Let’s go!” he yelled as he gesticulated wildly with his arms. He pulled a teammate who slumped to the ground after the goal, but it was like a punch to the gut. The air, the fight, had gone out of his team.
Some fans stood up to leave. They had yet to get down from the stands when Cebu struck twice more in the dying minutes to bury the home side.
Once the referee’s final whistle blew, Dumaguete’s coach staff sat on the dirt in disbelief. A few players began to point fingers at one another. Tulang shook the hands of the victorious Cebuanos then walked painfully back to diffuse the situation.
The fourth of five children, Tulang was actually born in Dipolog but the family had made Dumaguete their home. An incoming third year student at Foundation University where he was taking up Accounting, the 18-year old Morris had chosen to stay close to home to study and play football even if he harbored dreams of playing for the national team. He was invited by College of Saint Benilde to play for their NCAA team but he decided against it. “We don’t have enough money to pay for the trip to Manila,” he recalled. “That money was something our family could really use and family comes first.”
When word of the Under-23 tournament reached Tulang, he became excited. “This was a chance to show the country what I can do,” enthused the five-foot-three youngster who cheers for Real Madrid and its former striker Raul. Morris scored five goals for the cluster competition that one less that Bacolod’s Joshua Beloya’s total.
Cimfranca Field had emptied quickly. Most of Tulang’s teammates had left too. Morris dressed and neatly put his clothes and cleats into his small backpack and slowly made his way out.
“It hurts but this should make me strive harder,” he said of the lost opportunity to advance and maybe get invited to pay for the national squad. “To be able to represent the country in the Southeast Asian Games or any competition is a dream. Maybe one day.”
Angelo Marzon, Leyte
It seemed preposterous. The score was at 7-0 for Iloilo yet there was Angelo Marzon – all five-feet-three inches and 130 pounds of him – hurtling towards enemy territory on a never-say-die mission to score. Marzon was by his lonesome. No support. Nothing. Iloilo’s defenders descended upon the Waray striker and before he could get close to the box, the ball was taken away from him.
As the Ilonggos quickly raced forward for a quick counter attack (that would soon net them goal number eight), Marzon grimaced as he hobbled back on defense. He would get another chance minutes later. Before the defense collapsed on him, he was able to unleash a shot that unfortunately went high above the crossbar.
As Iloilo’s coaching staff reprimanded their defenders for allowing the shot, Marzon covered his face in anguish.
From the beginning of the Visayas Regionals, the simple objective of the team from Leyte was to soak in as much experience as they could in their maiden Under-23 national tournament. They knew they would be up against some tough teams but they never imagined they’d get shellacked this badly.
“Isang goal lang,” thought Marzon to himself. A goal would be a huge confidence booster for himself and his overmatched squad. But blowout or not, Marzon, like a madman on the loose, continued to attack whatever the score line. “He has guts,” described Team Consultant Onnie Patulin.
Marzon is a third year student at Eastern Visayas State University where he is taking up Environmental Science. He’s taking up the course to see how he can be of service to his country. As a footballer who roots for Arsenal and its brilliant midfielder Francesc Fabregas, he too dreams of football glory such as playing for the national team.
In the vernacular, he says that he wished he were bigger and taller to be able to better handle the ball and taller defenders. “But I’m not,” he said rather sheepishly. He also wishes his team had more experience. “Hirap ng puro talo.”
In spite of the glaring gap of talent and quality players between Leyte and the other squads, they have a simple mantra when it comes to the game – smile and play like a gentleman. Or in the game’s context – no trash talking, fighting, or rough stuff.
During the tournament, Match Commissioner Red Avelino remarked that with better teammates and more experience, Marzon, despite his smallish frame could actually perform better. “He’s industrious,” noted Avelino. “That’s something that cannot be taught.”
When informed later on about the Match Comm’s thoughts about him, the Tacloban native seems almost embarrassed.
“Laban lang,” said the youngest of four siblings. “Ganyan talaga ang buhay. At diyan din naman nagsimula yung Azkals – puro talo. Tapos nakaahon. Sana tayo rin. At may chance ulit.”
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