This appears in the Monday, April 16, 2012 edition of the Business Mirror.
The aria
of Daniel Gonzales
by rick olivares
There’s that moment that is to seize
and shine. When all that waiting, that frustration, the doubts and hardships
pay off. When one says, “I’m doing the right thing.”
It was a well placed cross off a free
kick. The ball arced down towards a gaggle of Navy and Pasargad players. Daniel
Anthony Gonzales had just entered the match as a substitute striker for a
beleaguered Navy team that was attempting to steal a win with the match tied at
one goal apiece and the game close to full time. And the ball seemed to drop in
slow motion with Gonzales the target.
All those long years of practice were
going to crystallize into one moment. Gonzales attempted to trap the ball but
to his horror, the ball slipped past him. No!
But his teammate, Alfie Caminos, was
right there. Caminos booted the ball past a stunned Pasargad keeper Abdollah
Golkhah. And in the 86th minute, just like that, it was 2-1, Navy.
And the proud sailors whose team had been taking it on the chin, no, from bow
to stern, with a barrage of cruise missiles, exploded in rapturous celebration
for they were close to their crucial first win in nine matches.
In the aftermath of the goal and the
win, Gonzales celebrated rather boisterously. And the game statisticians
credited the goal to him.
Friends back in the United States and newly
made ones here in the Philippines congratulated him on every social media there
is. “I wish I could say that the goal is mine. But no!” he cried out. “It’s
not.”
However, Gonzales is just grateful.
Grateful that he got on the pitch before he called time on his Philippine
adventure.
After all what’s an opera-trained
engineering graduate from Virginia Tech playing football for free in the
Philippines?
“I was in my cubicle back in Virginia
when I went to Google ‘Philippine football,’” he recalled. “The first thing I
saw was ‘Bleachers’ Brew’ and that was my introduction to the football
revolution going on in the Philippines.”
It was wild. It was crazy. During the
winter break of an internship, with a little money in his pocket, Gonzales went
to the country of his grandfather’s birth, the Philippines, in search of a
football dream.
“Up to that point, my life was class
in the morning, music practice in the afternoon, sports or working out in the
afternoon, then opening the apartment I shared with my girlfriend to whoever
among our friends from the Wood family who wanted to hang out,” said Gonzales.
“This was a chance to break out from that routine.”
This was around December of 2010 and
the Philippines was in the midst of a historic run in the Suzuki Cup that
forever changed the landscape for Philippine football. As Gonzales inquired
about playing football in the Philippines, I discouraged him from doing so. The
local football scene received a massive jolt of publicity but club football
wasn’t something where one could make an honest living.
However, Gonzales remained steadfast
in his dream. “I have to say that I tried,” he promised himself before finally
making the plunge exactly one year later. His best friend, Jim Smith, was
murdered during a burglary at his home and Virginia and the loss had a profound
effect on Gonzales.
“Jim once said – in spite of being 19
years old – that he felt he had done what he wanted in his young life and if he
were to die young he’d be all right with it,” recounted Gonzales of that moment
that he thought was odd. “When Jim died, I thought of what he said and I told
myself that life was too short and I have to make the most of it.”
He got in touch with another fellow
Virginia native in Nate Burkey who invited him to try out for Kaya. But an out
of shape Gonzales moved from one tryout to another. “That was my fault,” he
said. “I guess I didn’t impress anyone.” While working himself back into game
shape, he gave himself until March for one last chance to latch on to a club.
If he was unable to do, he’d go back to the United States and resume his life. In
the meantime, he did a few odd jobs to earn some extra money. On other days, he
auditioned for some stage plays because of his classical music and opera
background. “I know it sounds odd – opera and football don’t seem to go
together but that’s me,” he sheepishly admitted.
With the March transfer window for the
2012 season of the United Football League rapidly closing, he sought out Navy
coach Marlon Maro at La Salle Greenhills. Gonzales made his pitch. He was
willing to play for free. All he asked was to be given a chance to join a club
and play. Maro, who recently retired from the Philippine Navy and only returned
in the last UFL Cup because his former club was floundering, quietly sized him
up for a few minutes before he simply pronounced, “Okay.”
Gonzales showed up for Navy’s next
practice and the assistant coaches merely asked for two-by-two identification
pictures to process his paperwork with the UFL. “I was surprised but that was
all? Hell, I didn’t care. I was just happy to be a part of a team,” exclaimed
the overjoyed football aspirant. “I just want to play football.”
In the aftermath of the “near first
goal,” Gonzales remains optimistic. “I think I am close – this close to making
the most out of my dreams,” he said while using his pointer and thumb to
illustrate his statement.
The finale has yet to be sung.
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