*hey mates? hahaha*

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. -- Pele

 

            Not everybody knows that football was the first sports that I played (just for fun) in school. Well…I just enjoyed the game together with my friends. Both boys and girls will play together every after lunch in our school grounds under the sun. yeah! It was all fun… (aww… I miss my friends in grade school…haha)

 

Anyway, I’ve been watching football these days especially coming from the ASEAN Football Federation Championship - Qualifying that was held in Bacolod City last year. They were really great in the games and all of the people were just having fun…also the football team! (crazy!) What’s good with these wins was that we ranked 171 from 184 in the FIFA world rakings. (I know it’s still low but at least we are improving.) It still speaks a lot! (but I hope it doesn’t go down with the results now…)

 

Well, the Philippine team qualified for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship Cup! They were able to play against top teams. However, a big blow to the team before the tournament was that our top striker Phil Younghusband was out. Chelsea did not let him play because of career reasons. (fine…whatever is best for you…mabait ka naman eh…haha) but at least his brother James is playing (really…yay! haha). The Philippines belonged to group A along with Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar. Oh.. it’s a tough group.. but still… try to be a positive thinker, di ba? Hay…

 

Philippines 0

Malaysia    4

The first game that they played was against Malaysia. The game sucked big time! There were so many fouls that were given by the scary looking Malaysian players…hehe We were all in contention until a big downer came…del Rosario gave a goal to the other team! D*mn it! And to add to the disappointing game were Borromeo, team captain, got a knee injury that brought him out of the tournament and James Younghusband badly pulled his hamstring though he was able to comeback to the game.

 

Philippines 0

Thailand     4

            The second game was against the three time champions, Thailand. I think they played better here. What was disappointing was that I do not think that Casas should be the goalkeeper (sorry). He is too small to be one and there were some decisions that he made that were not quite good *sigh* But we had some chances unlike the other game. There were some goals that were missed by Chris Greatwich (ok…it’s fine…you did your best.). Another good thing was that our second half game gave the Thai’s a hard time. Hahaha. Great defense. Our team came back even though you can see that they are all tired already. Great attitude!  But the downer for was…James Younghusband only played only in the first half…hehe. Why? I hope it’s only because of the injury that he got last time...awww...Poor him…hehe.

 

Philippines 0

Myanmar   0

            The third game was ended with a draw, nil-nil, against Myanmar. It was a surprise for almost everyone. The Philippines denied them for the semifinal slot! Hahaha though there were several fouls given by Myanmar, the team did everything that they could. Casas has improved being the GK, saved a lot of shots. yey! They guys were great in defending…they were aggressive all through out! Christ Greatwich did a good job too in offense, defense and being the captain. Oh, and Anton del Rosario did a good at blocking that ball with his head…haha Valeroso was aggressive too in attacking. Too bad he lost some chances. And also, James Younghusband did a good job in the entire passing and defending, stealing during the game. You can really see that he worked hard, took several free kicks and was all over the place. Too bad, he got hurt and wasn’t able to comeback. (ok.. am I getting bias? haha) but it was the best of the team among the three games!!!

 

[ a NIL??? Ok. Now. Where the heck is Phil when you need him? hayyy…but its fine…whatever is best for you…haha]

 

Overall, I was impressed with the performance of the team given the fact that they only trained together for a few weeks together, injuries everywhere and they went up against these Pro players from different countries. Though most in our team are college players, they played with a gung ho attitude! Hahaha the Philippine football team just needs more conditioning / training, more exposure to the international scene even in some friendly games and of course, support from everyone! Ok? Let’s support football not only basketball (though I love that sports too…haha). And yeah… the future is bright with the Philippine lad that is growing with confidence…but we need more support and experience to have them all together!

 

Oh…Hey mates? (Wahahaha)

Even though we lost… it was still a good team performance … you tried your very best…and that’s what matters!

and of course,

You’re the hottest good-looking football players/team in Asia (because of…….. hahaha)!

(check out and compare all the pictures…scaryyy talaga ung iba kasi....hahaha…)

That’s really a FACT!

Go AZKALS!!! lol

x

 

*aww…i’m gonna miss watching you guys play football…*