Azkals: Homeless no more

There’s something thoroughly captivating about the way football is played. The deft handling of the ball, purposeful movements up and down the field, nimble sidesteps and acrobatic feats of athleticism… Sure, basketball can do all this and then some, but it’s only in a game of football where the feeling of the ball hitting the back of the net is infinite. I’ve been playing football since grade school and I can say for sure: there’s nothing quite like it in the whole world.

Now, I realize my writing about the sudden burst of football fever in the country is coming out a bit late, especially in light of the number of tweets, blog posts, status updates, and write-ups that have germinated since last year, but you’ll have to bear with me. After all, considering how the UAAP football season has just ended with the UP Fighting Maroons bagging the championship, well, it’s a wonderful time to be a football fan here in UP.

And on that note, I never thought I’d say this, but it’s a wonderful time to be a football fan here in the Philippines.

Yes, the Philippines. Land of the hoop-loving and the basketball-crazy, where football has been left at the periphery of national consciousness despite being the oldest national team in Asia… until now.

The Upset: Proving to us all that indeed, miracles DO happen.

Formerly deemed the sacrificial lamb of the region, we are Southeast Asia’s whipping boy no more — the Azkals win over defending champion Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup last December saw to that; with the national team making it to the semifinals for the first time in the competition’s 14-year history.

When I think about how that fateful day changed the sentiments of an entire nation overnight, I can’t help but be amazed. Was it only a few years ago when the general consensus was that Philippine football would slowly die out because of impotence on the part of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF)? Lack of leadership and direction, corruption and misappropriation of funds under the reign of former PFF president Mari Martinez… even the Azkals weren’t spared; shortly after their arrival from Vietnam, the team released a statement saying “We have not received one centavo of support from the PFF. Not to mention a call or a text during the final rounds of the 2010 Suzuki Cup in Hanoi, Vietnam.”

Indeed, in light of this, the Azkals’ achievement last year was a veritable godsend. And now that Martinez has been sacked for good and new president Mariano Araneta installed into office, I think it’s safe to say that the future of Philippine football can only go up from here.

Team Azkals: Yes, YOUR team never looked this good. (/via philippine-azkals. tumblr.com)

Let’s call it the Azkal effect

Not many people know that the name “Azkals” was the creation of Internet fans in 2005, similar to how fans in other countries name their favorite clubs and national teams (e.g. The Japanese national team is called “Samurai Blue,” while English club Manchester United is tagged “The Red Devils”). Personally, I am enamored with the name. It’s wonderfully subversive, as well as unabashedly Pinoy. And I love how far removed it is from names that are deemed more respectable. With all elitist pretensions removed, being tagged as a “mongrel” or “street dog” simply means we know how to survive. Never mind the irony of the team’s dynamics — these guys are still our own. And if the culture of a nation is any indicator of the playing style/identity of its football team — for example, the methodical mindset of Germany transposed onto its national team’s very structured and organized play — then I can’t wait to see how the Azkals ease themselves into their role.

In any case, some of the fruits of the Azkal Effect include the Senate waking up to the embarrassing state of the country’s football development programs; serious plans to finally build a football stadium that would meet international standards; the PFF standing to receive around P29.7 million from FIFA (as well as an initial amount of P8 million from SMART telecommunications); and the DepEd considering experimenting on specialized athlete schools to support the national sports program.

Personally, what I’m really excited about is the formation of a working premier football league. Indeed, although football is actually widely played at the school level, very few are motivated to pursue “professional” football after graduation; the one major reason for this being the lack of a national league to participate in. Now I don’t know about you guys, but the idea of having something akin to the UK’s premier league (dream big, right?) thrills me to no end.

* * *

There’s a theory floating around that the presence of a McDonald’s in your city/area/country is a sign that you’re economically stable enough to be invested in by the imperialist powers-that-be. There’s also this theory floating around that the development of a country’s football parallels its own growth as a nation.

So far, there’s Singapore, winner of the 2007 and 2008 Suzuki Cup, whose recent success in the sport is reflective of its stature as one of the world’s fast-rising, economic powerhouses. Then there’s also Vietnam, another country on the road to football progress. In fact, according to an article by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, “Last May, in a visit to Switzerland by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, Swiss officials feted him not just for the favorable business conditions in his country but also for the dramatic improvement of its football program.”

Here’s hoping that the long-awaited football miracle in our country is a sign of only greater things to come.

/article and photos via Philstar.com (by Samantha King)