Get This PFF

The Philippine U23 football squad lost it's first two games in the 2011 SEAG competitions, first to Vietnam, and later to Timor Leste. At this point hopes of medals have been abandoned. It's one thing to lose and another thing to really lose. A team could lose a game and still not lose its pride. Our U23 team lost these games and with it their pride and ten times more the pride of the Filipino fans that follow them. They, the fans, still follow alright, it is absolutely madness not, but the whole SEAG affair is cultivating judgements never heard before. Although not to be characterized as divisive or destructive to Philippine football, these observations have in them a sense of urgency and a core message that declares love and deep concern for our football's future.

Whether we like it or not, in the bigger picture, lack of grassroots system and the absence of a decent football youth program at the national level by the PFF, is the essence of the causes for this past 2 games’ failure. Those who “like” the Azkals and football in general tend to only see things that are directly in front of them. The ones that “love” the sport see beyond just the image in front of them and feel the urgency to tackle reality in its rawest form. The minority of these two groups decided to tackle the reality and it is that the PFF is not doing a good job at making sure that the future of our football is secure; that there is no system set that provides conditions for our youth football players. Really,our country’s football following is delineated by these two groups. They’re not one and the same, but both are good for our football.

We all want to believe things have changed in the PFF. It’s under new management. Weather the new management have utilized a different approach to address mistakes done in the past, or are better prepared for the future than the previous ones, we don’t really know. Clearly when it comes to popularizing the game in our country they have indeed done a remarkable job. LA Galaxy with Becks and Donovan in December, whoa, if that doesn’t intensify more cravings among football fanatics and would-be football fanatics, I don’t know what else will. But when one takes the time to examine the past year’s journey of our football, it’s not hard to see that our PFF gods had failed to develop a system, particularly an efficient strategic approach to the growing football competition in Asia. Notice the word “efficient” and not mere “effective”.Recruitment of Filipinos living abroad is effective, but NOT efficient.Fielding Filipino foreign-based players with more experience than our local home-based players on the pitch is effective, but NOT efficient. Composing on the fly a motley of players from different points who barely had the chance to get to know each other or bond into what is fundamentally known as TEAM for a shot at major competition for flag and all that good stuff is effective, but NEVER efficient.

So you ask, why are fans and followers pointing the fingers at PFF? They had it coming from day one of new management when nothing was immediately drawn out to drastically address this problem of grassroots. Will we accept “it’s not that easy” as an excuse? No.Is it a complex thing to do? Yes, maybe. Is a creation of a blue-print for a grassroots football system for our youth so demanding it would take more than year to weave a general plan? Could be. Are there strong unseen forces preventing or influencing the creation of youth-system design? Ok, sure. Boy, have we got ourselves a long list of excuses?

Here’s a solution: ACTION!ACTION! ACTION! Put together a bunch of smart people and let them brainstorm a design. Task a study group to do a research on what other countries are doing with their football programs. Send people out there to look into these programs and copy/paste these programs into ours, then later adopt changes and make it our own. Liaise with football federations of other nations; send people to the moon, if that’s necessary. Find an attainable standard model that is flexible and more applicable to our needs.Turn that model inside out, decapitate it, break it apart, then put it back together. Develop. But more importantly, START the first step. Do something!

Funding is a problem, you’d say. Of course. “But where are we going to get the money for this?”. Classic. You’ll find a way PFF. You are already spending money. As a matter of fact, you have been spending HUGE amounts of money already. effectively or efficiently? Neither, nor. 90% of that money should be grassroots or youth development program, the others can fight for the 10%.

UEFA Women's Euro

Wicked. Design totally wicked. Had to put this here.

Edge

What makes the world go round? The Philippine Azkals.

In the situation last night where the world ought to have stopped turning because of a coverage blackout in Myanmar, Azkals fans all over the world (oh yes!) found a crack on the wall and tore it wide open. Blogsites and fan pages all throughout the internet rose to the occasion and provided relief to fans and followers. For me and my homeheads and some booze and homemade sisig, a couple of blogsites were places of enchantment. A ray of the glorious sunshine that, for all intents and purposes, kept the world sane. It nearly became insane, mind you. We wrote down in a notepad our reasons in bullet sentences why we should hate Myanmar. We stopped at reason #666, it said: "greedy and repressive country that ought to be nuked for not allowing live telecast". This will have to do from the game last night on up to the succeeding games against Palestine and Bangladesh. Myanmar big dogs say, "no allow telibision, no allow intilnet, no allow live show, this is goldeng lul in Myanmal, oke?" As a Filipino Azkal I say it hurts when it hurts when it hurts. But it is what it is, says a poster in one of the blogs, of being "Myanmar'd" (to mean coverage blackout, I suppose).

At least now we know there is actually a place or country called "Myanmar". Hardly noticed it before these games. Heard it used to be Burma, but same thing, sounds just as awful as well. It's all good. Remember, you drew firstblood, k? The world will keep on turning because we have ways to get it to turn. We almost beat you in your own house! Scared the living bejesuses out of you all, huh? Filipinos will adapt and overcome. WE are The Azkals!

Rawlings in one of his one liners said: "I had done battle with great fear, and the victory was mine". Okay, slightly off but, you know, catch the drift. So here's to Burnmyar national football peeps, a lot of us here are mostly looking forward to ya'al coming over for a match with our Azkals one day. It won't be just eggs and tomatoes, you'll see. Lintik lang ang.....

It is what it is.

Philippines V. Myanmar Live!

We got Myanmar'd!

Kuyks!

What was it, 1982? He thought Philippine football would one day become the most popular sport in the islands. Is it now? You done well, kuya. Not the most popular sport, although as maybe yet...The sport that shall make a difference in Filipinos' lives. If you were here today you'll see. If only you were here just now, out there in that rocky, uneven, and treacherous mudlot of a football field near the church, in your grosby or robertsons "spike" shoes, green boys scout socks, make-do plastic "mobile" shin guards and red adidas shorts...ha-ha-ha...Kuya! Hah, trying to imitate Paolo Rossi, or Diego Maradona, a dozen gazilion times. Pele!

The mud lot isn't there no more, it's houses and stuff now, God the place is too crowded it's hard to breath. But Last December, something happened. Philippine football is not the same. Something's changed. And whenever I pass by the church these days, I see the mudlot football field once again. I mean, it's not really there, you know, I just see you and your buddies there kicking around, doing your thing. It's amazing.

I remember how you and your friends would argue about things football, stuff about who and what country was better. You would also --over empty bottles of tanduay -- rave and rant about your school's inability to help you guys out in your athletic programs. Then there's bitching about how Philippine football seems aimless and mismanaged, etc. But you had been the one guy to hold your ground against everybody else's hopelessness in the future of footballing in our country. You always said that there is nowhere else to go but up. Is that why you went and studied at UP?

Funny, I sort of believed you then. I'm not shitting you. Not your UP school but on your logic of the "up" thingy. This blog is a form of support, first for you and your friends and everyone else at that time who shared your passion, and second, because I so gawddamn get it, the Azkalhood. I tell you what, you'd be so proud of them, kuyks.

And it's just a matter of time when each and every fellow Filipino will breath, eat, and live football.

It's begun, kuyks. It's here.