Cebu Football

Hi guys, please check the www.azkalsfootballteam.com for the official statement of Philippine national team manager Dan Palami regarding the suspension. I was told I got some of the details wrong, so, let's all wait for it. The statement will be up shortly. Cheers. Now what should I do with that Fair Play, should I delete it but my stats show it got read 150 times already...hmmm.

Edit--Dan Palami will issue an official statement on www.azkalsfootballteam.com shortly. Please check for it.  Some of the details in this redacted entry are wrong (I decided to write a new Fair Play after I got an interesting call) While football fans were busy passing the word around--the PFF Disciplinary Committee has cleared Angel Aldeguer and Lexton Moy of the sexual harrassment charges filed by match commissioner Cristy Ramos Jalasco--I got another call. "There's good news and bad news," the caller said.

THERE'S an interesting development in football and it may not mean much for some, for the University of San Carlos, it speaks volumes. USC won the P10 division in the San Roque Cup recently and it may be just a small tournament, but for me, it means a shift in USC football, at least where elementary football is concerned. 

(This is my Fair Play column for Aug. 30) ONE question that burned in my mind going into the Milo Little Olympics football finals between Don Bosco Technological Center and Sacred Heart School-Jesuit was this--when was the last time Don Bosco conceded a goal in open play in a Milo tournament? In the national finals in 2011, DBC beat Luzon, 24-0, NCR, 15-0, and Mindanao, 5-0. In the regional finals, they conceded two in a 4-2 win over Abellana National School but that was by a shootout. And in this year's regional finals, DBC shut out USPF, 6-0,

An excellent story by Caecent Noot-Magsumbol for The Freeman about an openly gay teen playing in the Milo Little Olympics Football Tournament.  I don't normally re-publish stories from a competitor, but I have to make an exception for this one. The original story is here  CEBU, Philippines - In a still discriminating world for gays especially in a “man’s sport”, Carl Griffin “Carla Griffins” Aller finds the Milo Little Olympics a comforting venue for gender equality - a hallowed grounds where he gain respect and equal treatment from others. Yes, the 16-year-old Aller is a member of the oftentimes ridiculed gay community, but he is proud to be just the way he is. The graduating student from Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue, has joined the country's biggest and most prestigious developmental sports tournament for three years already and he is doubly happy to be part of history as the first batch to play on an 11-a-side format that is now being applied in the N

THE Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu survived a determined Don Bosco Technological Center to pull out a memorable 2-1 upset over in the secondary football finals of the Milo Little Olympics at the Cebu City Sports Center. It was a disappointing end for the Bosconians, who hours earlier was boosted by Moiselle Alforque’s injury-time goal in their 1-0 win over Springdale in the semifinals.   In the battle for third, Springdale beat Abellana National School, 1-0.

SO, I finally checked some of the Hotels and pension houses near the Cebu City Sports Center  and here are a few details. 1.) Elicon House ( www.elicon-house.com ) Turista (Standard rates) 1 P550 2 P800 3 P1,050 4 P1,300 5 P1,550 6 P1,800 7 P2,050 8 P2,300

DESPITE fielding a relatively young lineup, Paref Springdale is starting strong in the secondary football event of the Milo Little Olympics Visayas Finals, routing Blessed John XXIII, 8-0, yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center. “Most of my players are Under 14s because we really lost a lot of players,” said Springdale coach Mario Ceniza, who is coaching in his first tournament after the lifting of his three-year ban by the Cebu Football Association.

TO MY non-Cebuano friends, perhaps you should start practicing these simple phrases, " Sa San Carlos bay…metro ta 'noy...usa ka set bay, kanang bugnaw ." I had no idea when the inspection by the Philippine Football Federation officials for the Cebu City Sports Center field was supposed to be last Saturday, so, I just tried my luck and went there at 2 p.m.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu for Saturday, Aug. 25) NOW that the Nov. 16 friendly between the Philippines and Singapore is final, the two most pressing  questions for fans are these--how much will the tickets cost and where can I buy one? As early as a month ago, when this story broke, some fans were already asking, "where can we get tickets?" while saying, I hope it won't be that expensive.

I MET University of San Carlos assistant coach Joshua Fegidero last Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Center, during the opening of the Cesafi football matches. And Joshua, who plays for Pachanga in the UFL, has something cooking that I hope, will only lead to the growth of football in Cebu.

(This is a longer version of the report that will come out on Sun.Star Cebu on Aug. 20) THE first round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. football events saw a couple of draws in front of a sizeable crowd at the Cebu City Sports Center. The University of Cebu (UC) wasted a lot of scoring opportunities in its 1-1 draw with the University of the Visayas (UV), while the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) played to a scoreless draw with the University of Southern Philippines.  All four teams now have one point each, while defending champion University of San Carlos will see action on Sept. 2.

DR. Potenciano "Yong" Larrazabal and Lehmar Baunsit are as different as night and day, but, in the past few days, they showed they have the same heart when it comes to showing concern. Last Monday, Ipang, who once won the the National Coke-Go-For-Goal, announced that he was organizing the Football For Gab tournament, which was held yesterday at Don Bosco Labangon. What makes this tournament unique is that this was a chance for the whole BPO football community--and they are an active bunch--to help one of its own, the parents of Baby Gab, who needs some P800,000 to P1 million for a surgery.

SO Sen. Francisco Pangilinan has called for a review of the effectiveness of both the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee after yet another dismal Olympic campaign. I think, that move, in itself epitomizes the problem of Philippine sports--we have a government that only shows its concern when it becomes ideal to do so.  Wasn't this same call made in 2000, 2004 and 2008?

This story by SWU Intern Darling Dame G. Imon appeared in Sun.Star Cebu on Aug. 17 A SMALL group of footballers from Lapu-Lapu City did what teams from richer schools can only dream of—compete abroad. Though they lost all their matches, after competing at below zero against strong opponents from New Zealand, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, and Australia, the Streetcats felt like champions coming home.

THE local corporate football community is coming together to help a fellow member. This Sunday, 13 companies from the BPO industry will field 19 teams for the the one day tournament Football for Gab, aimed at raising funds to help in the surgery of nine-month old Baby Gab, at the Don Bosco Technological Center in Labangon.

I GUESS, I'd be part of the minority if I say I see nothing wrong with the latest personnel experiment Coach Michael Weiss is conducting with the Azkals--specifically the one involving Jason de JOng and Jeffrey Christaens--who both started on defense in that 3-1 loss to a Chicago club. Based on what we've seen in previous games, Christaens is an effective winger, why drag him all the way to defense? Well, why not?

This story appears on Sun.Star Cebu 's Aug. 13 issue. THE CEBU Football Association still has yet to find a team that will represent them in the Smart Club championships regional qualifiers. This was after Queen City United said it will go through the qualifiers in the UFL second division instead of the regional qualifiers for the Philippine Football Federation Smart Men’s Club Championships.

This story appears on Sun.Star Cebu 's Aug. 13 issue. CEBU City Sports Center (CCSC) manager Ricky Ballesteros wants the use of the football field regulated to preserve its state. CCSC will host the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation. Inc. on Aug. 19, its first tournament after renovation and Ballesteros said that the policies will help maintain the quality of the field. "Kailangan naay interval pag gamit para dili madaot ang field if sige siya gamiton," said Ballesteros.

CRAP, I missed the Azkal match due to a seminar I had to attend.  I left home after the first half and was planning to catch the second half at the hotel lobby, and it turned out, you can’t watch a damn football match in the lobby. And in the second half, it turns out, the Philippines played much better after holding the Inferno scoreless and nabbing one goal, but, judging from the various comments online, it seems we’re back to the same old argument about positions, possessions and, well, the effectiveness of these training camps.

SIXTEEN years.  Sixteen very long years in four Olympics.  Sydney, Athens, Beijing and now, London. Sixteen years.  That's how long the Philippines has waited for an Olympic medal and after Daniel Caluag's exit in the BMX competition, we will wait for four more years.

WHEN you're fighting for survival, how trivial everything else seems to be. Even sports. Even that chase of that ever elusive Olympic gold. Even the latest update of what the Azkals are up to, right now.

IT IS so (please insert expletive of choice) frustrating! Just one medal, just one lousy gold medal and it seems it’s forever out of our reach. The latest to fall flat—figuratively and literally—was Mark Anthony Barriga, who was wrestled and got penalized twice in the third round in his one-point loss to Kazakstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov.

(This is the draft of my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu on Aug. 4) IF YOU have anything scheduled for 8:45 p.m. (PH time), drop it. On Aug. 4, 19-year-old Mark Barriga, who shoulders the burden of 92 million Pinoys here and another 10 million spread all over the world, will take on Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov  in the round-of-16 of the men’s light flyweight division.

DID you, like millions of Pinoys all over the world, catch Mark Barriga's round-of-32 fight in the Olympics? After Hidilyn Diaz's painful and tearful disqualification, the early exits of swimmer Jessie Lacuna, and shooter Brian Rosario (30th of 36 shooters), Mark Barriga's win was the best piece of Olympic news since Jasmine Figeuroa's surprise win over Natalia Valeeva in archery in 2004.