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| Working the Skype interview with Internacionale de Madrid. Photo by Craig Burrows. |
Mine
tangled thoughts: On Dili kamo nag-iisa
by rick olivares
While talking to a few friends from
football clubs, they said they weren’t really jumping through the hoops to
watch the match between the Azkals-UFL Alyansa and Internacional de Madrid.
“They’re a third division squad,” said one somewhat derisively.
“I think some people consider our
national side a little second or third rate,” I countered.
I think some people are missing the
point.
Match day – Saturday, January 7, 2012
– is titled “Dili kamo nag-iisa”. It is a football match for charity. It was
organized to help the victims of Typhoon Sendong.
How different is that from a celebrity
basketball match? None, right? The idea is to help. And I don’t think that any
one is going to play matador defense here. People have to appreciate what is
being done. Everyone working behind the scenes is not getting paid a centavo.
And in this match, there’s an element of risk. If someone gets injured that
will hurt his stint with his club not to mention the national team.
It is not simple organizing a match.
Given the short amount of time to put this together, I believe that it’s
already a minor miracle getting it done.
While I have several concerns actually
but I will share one. I think Internacional’s arrival on Friday is cutting it
too close. Assuming they even arrive on time, when they get to the hotel it is
late in the afternoon then they have to brave the Friday night traffic to get
to the hotel. I know the scrimmage is there but I do not like it. Then they
play a match the following day? The quality of play could suffer there.
In a Skype interview with team captain
Juli, I asked him about that and he said that he thought they’d be okay.
They’re stoked for the trip and the match.
That’s great to hear then because
everyone is working hard to make sure that it will be a memorable event.
Having worked with another local
organizing group for the Sri Lanka and Kuwait matches, this one is somewhat
different although there are some familiar people in familiar if not different
roles.
I almost didn’t come on board for
this. I was about to turn down being asked to work as media officer but how do
you say no to an old friend and schoolmate like Ebong Joson? I don’t regret it.
It gave me a chance to work more closely with other people I respect like the
indefatigable Craig Burrows. There’s Ritchie Gannaban who has been able to spot
things that we oft miss out. Rafa Garcia who I became fast friends with on that
long plane ride from Manila to Kuwait last year. We have the lads from Soccer
Central who have been a huge help. There’s so many more.
At the end of the day when I get home,
I invariably find myself thinking, “I hope this helps the people in Mindanao.”
It’s only now as I write this where I realize what this means to myself.
In fact, while attending the press
conference where the Sipag program of Gawad Kalinga was launched, I had an
epiphany. I shared it with Craig and Ed Formoso, another old friend. I said I’d
mull over all the way to next week before making a decision.
The late Bill Shankly once famously
said that football is more than life and death. And all I can say for the nth
time is, “He sure got that right.”
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Tickets to "Dili kamo nag-iisa" cost Php 100, Php 200, Php 400, and Php 500 exclusive of tax.
Here are some links related to the event:
The Final line up of the Azkals-UFL Alyansa and Internacional de Madrid for the match
Internacional de Madrid looks forward to playing in Manila
An interview with LBC's Santi Araneta on the match and helping out
A Media Advisory on the match
A poignant start to the New Year
http://bleachersbrew.blogspot.com/2012/01/bleachers-brew-292-poignant-start-to.html
Very good insight! Yup, it's not about the Azkals going against Internacional de Madrid which is a 3rd division team, it's the objective of the match - it's for charity (to raise funds to be able to help typhoon sendong victims. =)
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