Cebu Football

1.) National tournaments for the age group . The U16s and U19s nationals were the feeders for the national youth teams. I hope the new PFF admin pushes through with their promise of bringing them back. We need a comprehensive youth system to sustain Philippine football and it is something the weakest team in the Asean region, East Timor, is investing on. Consider this, in the AFC U16 championships, only three teams from Southeast Asian made the main draw, Vietnam, Indonesia and East Timor. The Philippines finished last in the Group E qualifiers, conceding 26 goals in four losses. East Timor trailed China in Group F on goal difference, 29 to 22.

The AFF Suzuki Cup gave the Fair Play Award to the Philippine team. The team that has the least number of cards in the tournament gets the award. Check out stats in bottom right corner of this page .

Here's a nice article from Sun.Star network columnist Al S. Mendoza on the the Azkals, who for him, are the Achievers of the Year. I fully agree To read article, click here

THE newfound love the Filipinos have for the Azkals has led to a raised awareness of the sport, which, in turn, led to the PHL vs. Indonesia game out-rating the PBA games on TV. It has also, expectedly, led to fans being overly-protective of the team and any proposal to change the composition of the squad is greeted by petitions or immediately shot down.

I'VE always believed, give Pinoys something to cheer about and they'd do it gladly. That is what is happening with the Philippine football team, the Azkals. Pinoys who can't tell an offside trap from a mousetrap are suddenly football fans. They are watching football because their pride in themselves have been stoked by a bunch of guys who don't give up. Here's one story of a convert. It's in tagalog, but I tell you, it's worth reading. Click here to read story.

From ABS CBN, this Christmas spoiler: To read report in ABS CBN website, click here MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Jose Mari Martinez struck back at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) for favoring his ouster from his post. In a letter addressed to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, Martinez said the world’s football governing body has came out with a one sided decision regarding the dispute embroiling the PFF leadership. “I absolutely cannot accept your one sided, unfair and unjust decision which reeks of impartiality. Your decision was/is based on loose and questionable evidence,” the embattled PFF official said in his letter. FIFA, , also known as the International Federation of Association Football, earlier acknowledged the removal of Martinez from PFF presidency, citing that the move was made according to PFF statutes.

Sorry to spoil our christmas folks, but this is something that needs our attention. It seems deposed PFF president Mari Martinez will fight for his 90-day extension and has teamed up with AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam in questioning the Fifa order affirming Nonong Araneta's election. Columnist Ronnie Nathanielsz posted in his twitter account that Martinez will question the Fifa order in the Committee for Arbitration in Sports and Hammam will support him. Martinez and Hammam wants Fifa to respect the status qou, and that is for Martinez to keep his post and for the PFF to hold elections in 90 days. I hope Ronnie got it wrong. But Hammam supporting Martinez is quite expected. Hammam being the guy who gave Martinez P10 million last year. Where it went, only Martinez knows. You know what? I'm mighty sick of Martinez and Hammam and I think they are partners in crime. I also think both are using the AFC Vision Asia Philippines project to enrich themselves. Why? Well, even the new...

IN YET another milestone, the Philippine Azkals made it in a prestigious American sports magazine’s list of the world’s top 10 football stories in 2010. The Sports Illustrated magazine picked the surge of the Philippine Football team’s 2-0 upset of defending Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup champ Vietnam as No. 10 in the list. “The Asean Football Federation’s biennial Suzuki Cup might not be too high up on your list of priorities, but this year’s tournament produced arguably the biggest upset in its history,” SI’s Georgina Turner wrote on its website on Dec. 22.

Here's an interesting sidelight to what the Azkal has done and it's a prickly topic for Cebu football. The political rift in Cebu football has played a role in the low number of entries in the Aboitiz Football Cup Men's league. The champion in this division gets to represent Cebu in the national tournament, which were scrapped during Mari Martinez's term. Now that Nonong Araneta wants to hold them again, next year, he is also planning to use them to scout players for the senior team. Will those who skipped the Aboitiz League miss the chance, too? For next year, Araneta also plans to revive the Under-19 nationals, then known as the Adidas Under-19. But, and this is a big boost for our college players, he wants to make it a national Under-23 competion so the PFF can scout players for the Southeast Asian Games. There is no 23-Under competition in the Aboitiz League and the CFA may hold a tournament or it may just hold a tryout for the CFA team. I hope, if the CFA holds a t...

PFF president Nonong Araneta told ANC Fifa will conduct an audit of the funds the international body sent to the Philippines for the past years. The previous president, Mari Martinez, was ousted for his mishandling of P2.8 million, a fraction of what the PFF received from Fifa last year. During the World Cup, Fifa announced each national FA will receive $200,000 on top of its annual aid of $250,000. Araneta said he welcomes the audit and upon ribbing from the ANC host, promised that next year's Fifa aid will go to where it is supposed to go. Araneta also said the Azkals will be re-joining the Southeast Asian Games, an Under 23 competition, after skipping the 2007, and 2009 editions. And on a positive note, when asked if there will be changes in the team's lineup or coach, the president, unlike the previous president, said "it will be all up to Dan Palami." P.S. I learned Indonesia will hold international tryouts for its Under 23 squad and it is also in the process of ...

Martinez, you're out. Araneta is in. Click link to read Fifa letter in full LDAPMail

It's no secret that I've always admired Al Mendoza, the writer who exposed age-cheating by the Philippines in the Little League World Series back in 1991. For the past two years, he's been writing "All Write" for the Sun.Star network of community papers. And today, he wrote about the Azkals. Here's his article : P.S. Another writer I follow, Recah Trinidad, also wrote about the Azkals today and had an even scathing words for our country's devotion to basketball, "After the false gods have been exposed, now is the time to move away from the fancy, shallow doggone world of basketball—Asong Ulols—into the true win-win football path of the loveable Azkals." To read Recah's article, click this .

This is a list a came up with post AFF Suzuki Cup. That I made the list doesn't mean I have done all things. But of course, I'm planning to do them all. Of course, you can add to them if you like. 1.) BUY THE PHILIPPINE JERSEY . Mizuno gambled by supporting the Philippine team. Let's pay them back. 2.) SUPPORT FULHAM FC . Follow their games on TV or follow their progress on the net. I don't know about you, but I've been a loyal Man U and Real Madrid fan for years, for the simple reason that it's their matches we see a lot on TV. But all this loyalty to these clubs really don't get us anywhere, does it? As to Fulham? Well, it's Neil Etheridge's club. (Enough said) 3.) SUPPORT LOCAL FOOTBALL . The Fil-foreigners said it themselves. They wouldn't be there if not for the local players. Support local football. How? It's simple. Watch the games. We won't be cheering for the Younghusbands, Etheridges, del Rosarios, if not for the Aranetas, Barsa...

IT’S been quite a journey hasn’t it? The past few weeks have been heaven for sports fans—not just football fans. Finally, the country is taking notice. Finally, the country is talking football. And the rest of Southeast Asia is talking about the Philippines talking football, finally. They’re taking notice. For fans who’ve been with the team since the start, it’s a welcome change. For fans who are just getting in on the action, welcome to the club. And no, don’t worry newbies, when you started cheering for the team is not important, that you are doing that is what matters. There are no bandwagon fans, just fans, period. I’ve always said give Pinoys something to cheer about and they’d gladly do it, wildly. Some folks are still in disbelief, it’s almost too good to be true. But it is. It’s true. It’s not a dream, what you see, hear and read is real. I remember the only time Philippine football made CNN World Sports’ Play of the Day—on a lazy Monday afternoon on Jan. 15, 2007. CNN sports p...

I WAS taking notes of the Azkals vs. Indonesia game for a story and I tried to be as impartial as possible. It lasted about one minute. The last time I tried to do that—in Bacolod 2007—I lasted a bit longer. Try imagining screaming at the top of your lungs while taking notes. You can’t. So one thing has to give way.

From AFFSuzukicup.com Jakarta: Despite watching his side suffer their first defeat in this year's AFF Suzuki Cup with a 1-0 loss to Indonesia on Thursday Philippines coach Simon McMenemy still felt that his players were fully deserving of praise for their brave performance in front of an intimidating crowd at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. For McMenemy, the experience of coaching in front of a large and passionate crowd of 70,000 in Jakarta was an experience that he is unlikely to soon forget.

IT was a frustrating journey wasn’t it? To feel alone in your love for a sport that seem destined for the doldrums. You questioned yourself after yet another failure. “Is it worth it?” You asked, after yet another heartache. That does it! You screamed, after yet another fuck up. So you left.

WITH all the attention the Azkals are getting, questions are, inevitably, being asked on how the Philippine Football Federation is being run. Mari Martinez, who's conjuring fairy tale after fairy tale, including one where he claims the recruiting of Fil-Foreigners was his idea (sorry, I couldn't find the link), will have to answer a lot of questions. Mari wants to hold on the PFF presidency for 90 days more but someone told me that he's doing that because the next Fifa aid--some P10 million--will be released. I'm never a fan of senate inquiries, but what the heck, if it's the right venue where we can fry Mari (and of course, in the spirit of fair play, he can defend himself if he can). Then so be it. Let Mari be held accountable for the Fifa funds--$250,000 and $200,000--this year alone. And also for the AFC and AFF doleouts. That's for 2010. He's been in office for three years. Mari, like I said in a blog. May Araw Rin Ikaw. And the time is now.

Third batch of pics.

Batch 2 of the Prisaa pics courtesy of Dr. Joel Pascual