Cebu Football

Ricky with his modified Barca jersey

AT the start of the 20th Century, his grand father ruled Spanish football, en route to a legendary career at FC Barcelona, now 21-year-old Ricardo Alcantara Paredes wants to continue the legacy for the Philippine national team almost a full century later.

"I'm 21 and currently living in the United States but I was born in Quezon City," Paredes said in an email to Sunstar Cebu, "I have lineage to Paulino Alcantara but my Lolo does not remember, either he is my great grandfather's brother or first cousin,"

According to, Manuel Tomás Belenguer, head of the documentation division of FC Barcelona, Alcantara is considered as one of the legendary players of Barcelona for scoring 356 goals in 357 games.

The reply was sent to a query made by former Cebu based football coach, Graeme Mackinnon who forwarded it to Sunstar. Mackinnon is leading a drive to have Alcantara recognized in his home soil, a drive which the US based descendants of Alcantara are also supporting.

"To make things more interesting I have been meeting with other Alcantara family I have not met but are related to me trying to dig up answers", Paredes wrote, "I'm awaiting to get in contact with his main family in Barcelona"

The other info Belenguer provided on Alcantara, born in Ilo-ilo on Oct 7 1896 to a Spanish father, were also impressive.

"In 1920, Spain selected him for the Olympic team, but he turned down the offer because of his medical studies. Since school was his priority, he only represented Spain in international football competition five times. He scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Belgium in his first international match at the age of 25. He also played for the Philippine National Team. Alcántara is on record as being the first player from Barcelona born outside of Europe to represent Spain in international football competition. In 1922, during the game France-Spain, he shot so hard to goal that the ball perforated the net. Since then he was known as "break nets", " read Belenguer's email.

Alcantara retired on July 5 1927 with impressive records having won five Spanish Cup Championships in championships (1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926) and 10 Catalonia championships (1913, 1916, 1919, 1920. 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927).

A painting by known Spanish painter Josep Segrelles of Alcantara is also on the FC Barcelona Museum.
Despite this achievements, Alcantara is largely ignored in his own country and by playing on the national team, the younger Paredes wants to bring honor to their name once again.

"I feel as it is my duty like i am the chosen one to get his name in his honor for the Philippines! and the best way to do that is to play for the Philippine National Squad." Paredes said.

Paredes has recently communicated with national coach Aries Caslib of his plans to try out for the team next year

This Half spanish half Pinoy is the record holder for the most goals scored in FC Barcelona, Paulino Alcantara, 356 goals in 357 games.

It's not a brazilian, nor a spaniard who holds the record.

He is a kababayan, and he is ignored in his own country.

Two of my favorites things, a beer and marlboro


ang akong amigong si opaw

IT SEEMS the football calendar of Filipino fans won’t end with the 23rd Southeast Asian Games as a group is set to launch a series of promotional spiels to culminate with a domestic league next year.

A Manila-based foundation is launching a program that will put up a football school and a national league next year. Sun.Star Cebu learned of the move in a football forum and a source of the foundation agreed to give details provided that no names be used since they are still processing paperwork.

The first phase of the plan includes a promo tour by groups of Filipino and foreign players, which will be hosted by a popular artist around Metro Manila in December to start awareness of the football school and the league.

They will also hire artists to host the tour, which will last two to three months and will showcase the basic and technical skills of players to a broader audience.

Local teams and football associations will also be contacted and the group will conduct on-site inspection to gauge the teams’ level of play, whether they are fit for amateur or semi-pro status.

The league will be launched after the World Cup 2006 when football awareness in basketball-crazy Philippines is at its peak.

“During the league continuous promotion will be made made in newspapers, television, etc. Depending on the success of the league a football academy will be founded in Metro Manila, combining education and football in one school,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the group plans to the call the cup the Paulino Alcantara Cup in honor of the late Barcelona leading goal scorer.

Alcantara was born in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, Philippines and is honored in Barcelona for scoring 395 career goals. He is ignored in his own country, however.

Marian with superfriends

A Festival and a futsal event will be some of the new changes when the 9th Aboitiz Cup kicks off on August 28 and 29.

"The sponsors wanted the opening to be grand and festive so we decided to hold a festival for the age groups on the opening day," Cebu Football Association president Jonathan Maximo said.

The Players 6 and the P 8 will play on the opening day while the players 8 -12 will play on the second day according to Maximo, who met with the coaches and players Tuesday night.

The venue is still to be decided between the University of San Carlos Technological Center, Sacred Heart School Jesuit field in Ayala and the San Roque field in Mandaue.

"It's also the thrust of the Philippine Football Federation to hold a festival type for the grass roots level," Maximo said.

For the opening festival, Maximo also plans to invite teams from the Visayas and in Mindanao to join.

"We are planning to hold a festival every month or every two months, depending on the sponsors," he said.

Aside from the festival, CebuFA will also introduce girls football in the high school division and a futsal tournament.

"Hopefully there will be a strong response for the girls because next year there will be a national Under 19 and Under 17 girls championships," he said.

On the other hand, the futsal tourney will determine the Cebu's representative to the national finals in Laguna this December.

Last year, Team Hiroshi earned the right to represent Cebu after winning a local tournament.

"We are also thinking of introducing the 35 and above age group but that will still be discussed because some want it to be 38 and above," Maximo said.

Marian through the pipe


Covering four sports events in a day turns you into this


Or this


Marian and King with Alpha

Marian feeling comfortable at Baseline Restaurant


Me supersized



Sona and Marian, flanking The Freeman's lady photojournalist, Iste Sesante


hehehehe


Sona and Marian, they like to exclude me from the photos

CEBUANO football fans have long drooled over the manicured greens of Pana-ad Stadium while dejected at the sad state of the Cebu City Sports Center field, wondering when Cebu will finally have a decent place to play the world's No.1 sport.

Things are sure to turn around with the planned construction of a football stadium at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City.

"We have a plan to put up a football field," said USC vice president for finance Fr. Vic Uy. "Around that we will also have a rubberized oval."

The field, which will be behind their new nursing and pharmacy building, will comply with international standards set by Fifa, the sport's global body.

"We found out that there is a minimum and maximum size for international play; ours will be in between."

Aside from the pitch and the eight-track oval, Uy said that they will put up a grandstand to seat the fans, while one portion of the stadium will be converted into a hill.

"I based it on the one I saw in Australia. The grandstand will not cover all the field, rather one will be sort of a hill, where the fans can sit on the grass or have a picnic while they watch the games," said Uy, the Team Cebu City chaplain during the Arafura Games in Australia last May.

Uy said they plan to start construction as soon as the master plan, which is still being evaluated by their architect, is finished.

The construction of the field could also make USC one of only a few schools in the country to own an international-size pitch and a rubberized oval.

"We will open it to the public, it wont be exclusive for the school," he said.

AUSTRALIAN football guru Graeme Mackinnon lauded Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Jonathan Guardo's moved to support the Cebu Center for Football Excellence.

Despite his return to his homeland two years ago, Mackinnon, who molded the Carmen National School boys into national stalwarts, has continued to monitor Cebu football regularly through contacts and the internet.

"I'm really pleased to read your article today that Jonathon Guardo will recommend that the CCSC support the move to establish the Cebu CFE. It was also pleasing to read that Jonathon has suggested that a team representing Cebu made up of players from the CFE could go to the International Children's Games in Bangkok next year," Mackinnon said in an e-mail to Sun.Star Cebu.

The Cebu CFE is one of 15 centers nationwide tasked to train a select group of kids who will be in the national team 10 years from now. The country aims to win its first gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in 2015.

The Cebu CFE will be under the tutelage of Mario Ceniza, Mackinnon's former player in the M. Lhuillier team that won the national title in the late 80s and his right hand man in molding the Carmen National School squad.

"I have spoken to Mario privately since he came back from Bago, and he is very excited about the CFE and the impact it could have on football in the future. As we have discussed previously, the future of football is in the youth and this idea, although not new, is a step in the right direction," Mackinnon wrote.

Mackinnon added that the CFE would recreate the Coca-Cola Training Centers, which helped discover a lot of talents in the past.

"When German coach Bernard Zgoll was in charge of Philippine football, he set up the Coca- Cola Training Centers. Unfortunately, with his demise from coaching came the demise of the Centers. Now there is yet another opportunity to begin a grassroots program that aims at the highest honor of representing the Philippines on the international stage," said Mackinnon.

"I know Mario will give the players who go there his undoubted coaching experience and technical support. It is good that the Cebu City Sports Commission will back him up."

THE Cebu Football Association is planning to send a delegation to support the RP Men's football squad also known as the Askals in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Bacolod this Nov. 20 to Dec 5.

"We have coordinated the football calendar so there will be no football activities here during the Southeast Asian Games and the players and coaches can watch the games," CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said.

Maximo said that there have been initial talks between the CebuFA and the Philippine Football Federation to send a busload of supporters from Cebu.

National team coach Aries Caslib has appealed for active and loud fan participation in the Seag, calling them the "12th member of the team."

"I think it's better if we organize it here so we will be coordinated," Maximo said. "We can arrange for the bus or for rooms and tickets in Bacolod."

In another development, the CebuFA will introduce the Girls Under-17 age group in this year's 10th Aboitiz Cup, which will also hold a one-day festival for the Girls 12-U cluster.

"There are not that many girls in the 12-U but the Girls 17-U will be a full 11-a-side tournament," Maximo said. "This will give a chance for the high school teams to compete with each other."

The 10th Aboitiz Cup will be tentatively played at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field and the newly improved San Roque Parish field while the Cebu City Sports Center field is being renovated.

The Men's Open will still be staged at the University of San Carlos - Technological Center later this year.

Maximo was set to meet with the coaches last night to plot the schedules for the different age groups.

Sona too shocked (and disgusted according to her) to be in photo withe me

The football beat reporters from left, ever lovely and always late Marian of Cebu Daily News, and the statuesque but quite a gourmet Sona of the Freeman. Never mind the third guy, he can't help being himself

Talks are ripe that the University of San Carlos will build a world class field at the USC-Technological Center, with a rubber oval, a grandstand plus lights.

I've been trying to confirm this with Father Vic, but they are currently out of town for a Board meeting.

Let us hope this is true.

THE Cebu Center for Football Excellence got a huge boost after Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chief Jonathan Guardo promised to back the undertaking designed to save Philippine football.

"No problem, we will support it," Guardo said. "We will appraise it, maybe after I receive their proposal."

The Cebu CFE, one of 15 CFEs nationwide, will be set up later this month with noted youth coach Mario Ceniza in charge.

Ceniza, along with other coaches attended a seminar in Bago City last month under national coach Aries Caslib and Vince Santos of the Leads Sports Institute.

The center aims to train a select group of 13-year-olds, who in turn will be part of the national team 10 years from now.

"This is a really good concept and it's the only way we can save football," Ceniza said. "The center can also represent Cebu City."

Ceniza is planning a tryout later this month at the San Roque Parish field since they are offered use of the facility for free.

Guardo also agrees as he plans to invite Ceniza and the Cebu Football Association to his office in the future.

"Cebu has produced a lot of football talents, I think we are one of the top five cities in football," he said. "Our schools are very active, the private sector like the Aboitiz is very active," said Guardo.

"In fact I have told (Jonathan) Maximo (CebuFA president) that they have to form a team next year for the International Children's Games in Bangkok," he said.

If plans push through, the Cebu CFE can also represent the City in the ICG as the games will be for kids 15 years old and under, the same bracket the players in the CFE will be next year.

"I am still waiting for the final confirmation from the Philippine Football Federation," Ceniza said. "Though they have assured me that I will head the CFE, it's better if we have papers to show. After I get those, we will meet with Chairman Guardo."

Ceniza added he would first introduce the CFE to the CebuFA before presenting it to Guardo.

CEBU football is set to hit a milestone next year if the planned hosting of the Asian Football Confederation Youth Festival pushes through in June.

According to Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) president Jonathan Maximo, AFC wants the Philippines to host the AFC Youth Festival, which staged in Cambodia early this year participated by Malaysia, Indosia, Maldives and other Asian countries.

"Vince Santos wants us to host the AFC," Maximo said, "Because its too congested in Metro Manila, and Cebu is also the better because it's nearer to Mindanao and the Visayas," he said.

Vince Santos, of the Leads Sports Institute in Manila was one of those contacted by the AFC regarding the hosting rights. Last February, a team from Leads including Cebuano Kevin Tecson competed in Cambodia.

The AFC Youth Camp is also a good small step in hosting international football meets for Cebu City.

"Its not that big a tournament because it's for the under 14," Maximo said.

Maximo will be finalizing an offer sheet for the event in the next few days and he will also have it endorsed by Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Jonathan Guardo since the help of the LGU is needed.

"The offer sheet will focus on the infrastructure, the stadium, because we already have the hotels to accommodate them," he said.

The hosting is also timely because the Cebu City Sports Center, the only football stadium in the city, will undergo a massive renovation and replanting of its grass.

"I hope to include this in their schedule so that after the field is replanted, the field will still be in good condition," Maximo said.

On the other hand, Guardo also promised to endorse the hosting.

"It's a good move (hosting), I will endorse that," he said, "We will discuss this first with the board and hopefully approve this and we can find out how we could help,"

The hosting of the AFC Youth Festival is another achievement for the city after it hosts five events in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games later this year

After reading Sunstar Cebu at home late last night, with a beer in hand, this is the headline in page 10 of our paper:

City to buy P2M lot
for basketball court

And then there's a teaser below it that states "councilor says mayor promised this to residents even before polls"

Holy crap of all crap. How many freakin basketball courts do we have already? A thousand? For two million pesos, heck, one can build a decent field already!

hehehehe. No football news, no football photos, just me.
Who was it who said that we are in the payroll of the Cebu Football Association? Frankly dear father or brother (Im not familiar with religious ranks), the CebuFA can't afford us.

THE Netherlands has the Orangemen, France is Les Bleus, and Italy has the Azures. Philippine football fans want to call their national team Askals.

The menacing street dog has just been elevated to national icon status after a few fans threw around an idea on what to call the national team in an Internet forum dedicated to Philippine football.

Names like Tamaraws and Eagles came up first before the fans agreed on Askal, short for asong kalye or street dog.

The idea started after national coach Aries Caslib appealed for more fan participation in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (Seag), where the country will try to win its first medal in football.

Caslib appealed for vocal support after seeing how the other countries supported their teams in last year's Tiger Cup.

One fan has come up with an Askal logo, and plans to have it reproduced on shirts and flags are being discussed by regular posters Graeme Mackinnon, Paul Weiler and others.

Even coach Caslib is on with the idea: "I want to know if the design for the Askal is final because we might help in producing the shirts," he told Sun.Star Cebu in an earlier interview.

As to whether the national team will be as menacing as the street dog is left to be seen as they are still to test their readiness in a pre-Seag tournament in Vietnam before leaving for a month-long training in China.

THE Cebu football family just got a bit bigger with its newest member, the Metrosports Badminton Club.

You read it right, one of the city’s biggest Badminton Club wants to diversify its sports and is planning to offer futsal or indoor football.

According to Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) President Jonathan Maximo, he was contacted by Chip Tolentino of MBC regarding their plans to offer futsal.

“I told them that there are a lot of players who are very eager to play,” Maximo said.

Maximo was also consulted by the company regarding the dimensions of a futsal court and how to put up the lines.

“I just gave them dimensions and how to put the line according to Fifa standards,” said Maximo, who went to MBC to oversee the painting of the court.

Maximo and Metrosports is also planning a one day tournament for kids and media in July 30 to introduce the sport.

“We can’t include the adults yet because they are apprehensive about the lights getting hit though they are planning to put screens on them,” he said.

Meanwhile Bright Academy coach Eleazar Toledo welcomed the move of Metrosports and is willing to field a team if they organize a tournament.

“Basta di lang kaayo mahal,” he said.

That sentiment is also echoed by Maximo, “I told them not to put up rates like in Manila where they play P1,500 per hour,”

There is a coming football tournament which I promise I will not write a single word about. No offense to the teams and players who will join this event, its just that certain personalities behind this tournament are known for, shall we say, "manigbasay

PAREF Springdale added another two crowns to its growing title chest after winning the 8 under and 10 under age groups in the San Carlos City Football Festival yesterday.

Sabin Veloso and Enzo Ceniza teamed up for their 3-0 rout over Dragon FC while the big boys of their 10 under squad also routed OMC 4-0 to win the crown.

Veloso opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Enzo, the son of former national team and current Springdale head coach Mario, added another in the 15th for a comfortable 2-0 lead.

As OMC tried to get one back, Veloso made it 3-0 in the 18th as they cruised to another their first title in football rabid San Carlos City.

Ceniza also scored a hat trick in their 5-0 win over Kids United in the eliminations while Veloso had two.

Last May, their 14 under age group finished third after going unbeaten in the elimination round.

Meanwhile it was a complete team effort in their win in the 10 under age group as Javier Gallego opened the scoring with a ninth minute strike from 10 meters and Iggy Maximo doubled the count in the 20th.

Nico Villacin’s long shot in the 23rd got past the keeper before Jondrow Amigo scored the final goal in the 25th.

They now add the SCSF title to their three titles in the Aboitiz Cup, the CIS Invitational, RIFA Cup, Monfort Cup and the Thirsty Cup

IT’S still a long way to go before the RP Men’s football team is in tiptop shape for the 23rd Southeast Asian Games this November in Bacolod City.

“Physically, we are not very strong, we still lack strength and speed endurance,” national coach Aries Caslib said, “The players will have to step up.”

“They have to adjust their fighting attitude, they should not relax,” he said.

In previous tournaments like the Tiger Cup, Caslib has highlighted the Filipinos tendency to sag in the late stages of a game, committing a lot of errors.

Caslib also said that the members of the training pool have to learn a new style of play for the Seag.

“They can’t play their own brand of football because we are using a new style a new brand of football more suited for the Seag,” Caslib said. “Technically we are not as good as Thailand, that’s why we are using a new style.”

Meanwhile, Caslib said that Fil-Italian Filippo Braggio would join the RP team in a pre-Seag event in Thailand on Aug. 28 to Sept. 31, as part of his evaluation.

Other Fil-foreigners Paul and James Younghusband of Chelsea FC couldn’t make it as they are “attached to the club.”

After Thailand, the team will return to the country for more training, hoping that the promised one-month training in China pushes through.

“The PFF is looking for sponsors, I hope we can go,” Calsib said.

For the coming Sea Games, Caslib said he’s not making any prediction, “We just have to do our work, be patient with the preparation of the team.”

However Caslib reiterated the need for support for the national team during the Seag.

“Hopefully, we’ll get the support we need to really help the team morally,” he said.