This appears in the Thursday July 11, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.
Cannavaro, Wise banner Clear Dream Match II
Cannavaro, Wise banner Clear Dream Match II
by rick olivares
World Cup, Serie A and La Liga winner Fabio Cannavaro
and former England and Chelsea captain Dennis Wise are coming to Manila to take
part in the Clear Dream Match II this August 24, 2013 at the Rizal Memorial
Football Stadium.
The Clear Dream Match is a football exhibition match
that pits the Younghusband brothers, James and Phil, against each other with
other local footballers taking sides. Since their days as youth players for
Chelsea in England, the brothers have always been teammates. In last year’s
inaugural match however, the Fil-British brothers found themselves on opposite
sides albeit in a friendly played at the University of Makati. Team Phil
shellacked Team James, 5-1, to take the early bragging rights. Now James, who
is also the captain of the Loyola Meralco Sparks in the United Football League hopes
to even up the score this year with some foreign assistance.
Spicing up this year’s Clear Dream Match is the
participation of football legends Cannavaro and Wise. “We wanted to shake
things up this year by bringing in two international football legends to
compete with our country’s best,” says Clear Philippines Brand Manager, Drew
Copuyoc. The brothers are endorsers of the brand. “Fabio Cannavaro and Dennis
Wise will pick sides in this sibling rivalry. We don’t know yet with which side
they are playing though. That will be determined later.”
Cannavaro first gained attention as a defender for
Italian Serie A side Parma in the 1990s before transferring to Juventus where
he teamed up with Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane and David Trezeguet, and goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon in winning two scudettos or Italian titles.
In 2006, Cannavaro was a part of the Italian side
that won the 2006 World Cup against Zidane’s France in a controversial finals
that saw the Frenchman sent off for headbutting the former’s teammate, Marco
Materazzi.
“During the 2006 FIFA
World Cup, I was watching on T.V. and cheering with the rest of the world as
Cannavaro led Italy to the championship,” revealed Phil Younghusband.
While at Madrid, Cannavaro won two more La Liga
titles.
Wise on the other hand, was Chelsea’s winningest
captain before John Terry arrived. Wise was known for his ferocious attacking
style as he led the Blues to two FA Cups, a League Cup, and a League Winner’s
Cup before leaving Stamford Bridge after an 11-year career there. Wise has 21
caps for England and one international goal to his name.
“When we were still
training with Chelsea, we used to watch Wise play all the time,” recalled James.
“He is like a legend to us. And it’s good to see a fellow Chelsea player here
as well. It’s like old times.”
The road to the Dream
Match begins with football fans voting for their favorite players into the
Dream Teams. Clear has recruited a pool of 50 players which includes the likes
of United Football League stars Anton Del Rosario, Simon Greatwich, and Carli
De Murga among others; College stars like last year’s Clear Dream Match Best
Midfielder, Miko Mabanag (Ateneo), Brazilian models Daniel Matsunaga and Fabio
Ide; the Boys Night Out trio, and other outstanding players in the local football
scene.
“From the onset fans will get to join the rivalry by
going to Facebook.com/ClearPH or by downloading the Clear Stadium app on the
Play Store or the App Store. They can vote for their favorite football players,
play interactive games and share their support for their favorite team to get
more points. The most digitally active fan of
the winning team will join the Younghusbands for a trip to Brazil in 2014,”
expounded Copuyoc.
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Check out the video for the Clear Dream Match 2
Here's also an interview I did with Phil Younghusband about the Rexona "Doing More" campaign about a month ago
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