Different Breeds Unified to form Philippine Azkals

Despite of different breeds and merry mix of Filipino-foreign blood, the Philippine Azkal
unites to kick one victory and pride for our country.

The Azkals, whose members are now being embraced as modern Filipino heroes
because of their unprecedented performance in their games in and out of the country, has
gained instant-fame in the football field. They put the basketball-loving nation to step the
international football map with their unmatched defenses and offenses in the International
Football Competitions.

FIRST KICK OF THE TEAM

The Philippine Azkal is the national football team of the Philippines and represents the
country in international football competition. The team was controlled by the Philippine
Football Federation (PFF), the governing body of football in the Philippines with Mariano
Araneta Jr. as President.
Before the instant-fame name of the team Azkal, the team was named first as RP
(Republika ng Pilipinas). Until the local press and other influential people suggested the name
Azkal, the term for a street dog with no pedigree and no breed in the Philippines, pronounced
as as-kal which became a trending topic online during their competition in semifinals of the
2010 AFF (Asean Football Federation) Suzuki Cup.

For the record, our football team was the oldest national team in Asia, but they did not
get any triumph in international football competition. Ranked as 195
th
on the FIFA (Federation
Internationale de Football Association) World Rankings on 2006 but clinched as 171
st
on 2007
and 150
th
on 2010. Also, the team grabbed their first ever win of the tournament during 2004 in
ASEAN Football Championship.

BIG BLOW BOOTS

Azkals made a history during the recently concluded 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup in Gelora
Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia when they reached the semifinals match with
Indonesian Garudas after a draw with Myanmar under the management of Coach Simon
Mcmenemy, a first time in the history in the league of Filipino football.

Although the team took their lost against the Garudas in the semifinals of the
competition, at least they have won the hearts of every Filipinos and even the audiences and
football fan of the world in their skills to conquer internationally.

But their game held last night of February 9, the Philippine Azkals rip the Mongolian
Blue Wolves in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Challenge Cup. Under the Team Captain
Alexander Borromeo, other Azkals - Fil-English Players Neil Etheridge(goalkeeper), Christopher
Greatwich (mid-fielder), James and Phil Younghusband (mid-fielder and forward respectively),
and other local athletes blended flawlessly to carved out a hard-earned 2-0 victory against the
Blue Wolves in front of the boisterous fans of football in Panaad Stadium, Bacolod City,
Philippines.

Emilio Chieffy Caligdong scored the first goal against the Mongolian Goalkeeper
Ganbayar Tseveensuren. Equipped with determination, Caligdong gave his susceptible offense
to Tseveensuren from close-range with his fiery right foot.
Phil Younghusband marked the second goal in the 92
nd
minute of the game. After a
mishandle kicked against a Mongolian defender, Younghusband made another curling shot
striking another goal of the team that made the 18,000 Filipinos Spectators to elation.

Their victorious game was coached by Hans Michael Weiss with the other Azkal
members (GoalKeeper 2)Eduard Sacapao, (DF) Rob Gier, (DF), Anton del Rosario, (DF), Rey
Palmes, (DF)Joebel Bermejo, (DF)David Basa, (DF)Ray Anthony Jnsson, (DF)Kristopher Relucio,
(MF)Roel Gener,, (MF) Emelio Caligdong, (MF)Mark Ferrer, (MF)Jason de Jong,,(MF)Nestorio
Margarse, (MF)Mark Drinkuth(FW) Yanti Barsales, (FW)Peter Jaugan, (FW)Ian Araneta.


HOWLS BEHIND THE STADIUM

Meanwhile, our President Benigno Aquino gave P3 million from his Social Fund for the
organizational needs of the Azkals in their next competitions.
Sports Illustrated Magazine also listed the Philippine Azkals quarterfinal victory over
Vietnam in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup as Top 10 soccer stories this year.
She said in her column Inside Soccer that This year's tournament produced arguably
the biggest upset in its history: Defending champion and federation powerhouse Vietnam lost
2-0 to the Philippines, ranked 151st in the world and without so much as a point off Vietnam in
nearly 20 years,
Also, the triumph made by the Azkals woke up the countrys business tycoons and other
sports analysts to boost up other Filipino football fans and players to support the team. Maybe
much more support than the support given to the Philippine Basketball Team Pilipinas.
SOURCE: Wikipedia, Yahoo Sports, Inquirer.net, Azkals.info






























































Why Azkals? An askal is a Filipino term for any dog with no pedigree, no
breed, no class. The askal is usually astray, unsupported and survives by
feeding on whatever provision it can find. The Filipino national football team
can relate to this mongrel, they have almost no support from a government
thats suppose to support them, they are underdogs not just only to the world
but even in their own region, South East Asia