Philippine Football

[rhk111]

* Features on the coming AFC Challenge Cup to be held in Manila:
- Too many goalkeepers? Azkals coach Weiss mulls choice of main keeper for Challenge Cup qualifiers
- Azkals excited to play before Filipino fans in AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers

* Here is a project worth of everyone's support: The Just Give It Project

[rhk111]

* Congratulations to the Blue Booters for winning this season's UAAP Football crown. So ADMU now has won both the Basketball and Football crowns this season ... Murayama is the man as Ateneo denies UP hat-trick in UAAP football

* Azkals eye full strength squad for AFC tourney

[rhk111]

* San Beda wins the NCAA Football crown this season. This is a three-peat for the Red Booters ... SBC booters topple Chiefs for NC crown

* Ateneo wins Game 1 of their Best of 3 Finals match against FEU via Penalty Kick-Off ... Murayama shines as Ateneo clips UP to draw first blood in UAAP football finals

* A closer look at Javier Patino, who is set to debut for the Azkals soon ... A chat with the newest Azkal, Javier Patiño

[rhk111]

Sandro Reyes doing VERY well at the FC Barcelona Escola in Spain ...

(From the official Sandro Reyes Facebook Page):
"Simple but happy lunch after tournament game earlier today won by Sandro's team 8-3. Sandro scored a left footed goal and dished out 3 assists. Along with last week's loss where he also scored a left footed goal, Sandro has 13 goals and 16 assists through 16 FCB Escola tournament games."

[rhk111]

NCAA Football action ... Arellano defeats San Beda in NCAA men’s football round of four

[rhk111]

In the meantime, Ateneo has made it to the Finals for the first time since 2008, winning a penalty shootout against DLSU 4-3.

An Ateneo-La Salle game is always exciting, whatever sport it may be ... Blue Booters outgun DLSU to reach Finals

[kerouac82]

The FEU-UP game is ongoing, and FEU is up 4-1. Melliza has edged Valmayor in their shootout with already a Hat Trick, and Valmayor scoring the lone goal for UP.

The Finals is reportedly going to be televised by Studio 23, announcements on the schedule to be made probably after the finals cast is complete ...

In the meantime, Ateneo has made it to the Finals for the first time since 2008, winning a penalty shootout against DLSU 4-3.

[rhk111]

Looking forward to the Final Four, which starts tomorrow. DLSU blanked Ateneo 2-0 in their last meeting, but were relegated to #4 with a 2-1 loss to UP and Ateneo's 3-0 win over NU. How Ateneo will bounce back from that 2-0 loss is going to be interesting.

The FEU-UP game is ongoing, and FEU is up 4-1. Melliza has edged Valmayor in their shootout with already a Hat Trick, and Valmayor scoring the lone goal for UP.

The Finals is reportedly going to be televised by Studio 23, announcements on the schedule to be made probably after the finals cast is complete ...

[kerouac82]

The latest in UAAP Football action ... UP XI clinches twice-to-beat

Looking forward to the Final Four, which starts tomorrow. DLSU blanked Ateneo 2-0 in their last meeting, but were relegated to #4 with a 2-1 loss to UP and Ateneo's 3-0 win over NU. How Ateneo will bounce back from that 2-0 loss is going to be interesting.

[rhk111]

The latest in UAAP Football action ... UP XI clinches twice-to-beat

[agrippa]

I'm almost sure he will be great. Just look at Rufo Sanchez, the Spanish Import of Stallions. He is so good at scoring goals, and yet he is playing in Spain at a division 1 level below where Patino is playing now ...

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Here is a good article on OJ Porteria, the youngest player in the Azkals lineup, still at teenager at only 18 years old ... Meet the 'OJ' of the Philippine Azkals

yeah, saw Rufo Sanchez playing in Stallions, he's formidable. reliable in scoring goals.

[rhk111]

so Javier "Patigol" Patino has been loan to Xerez, i hope he can make it to AFC Challenge Cup Qualifyers, i wanna see his calibre...

I'm almost sure he will be great. Just look at Rufo Sanchez, the Spanish Import of Stallions. He is so good at scoring goals, and yet he is playing in Spain at a division 1 level below where Patino is playing now ...

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Here is a good article on OJ Porteria, the youngest player in the Azkals lineup, still at teenager at only 18 years old ... Meet the 'OJ' of the Philippine Azkals

[agrippa]

* Javier Patiño on loan to Xerez CD !
http://filipinofootball.blogspot.com...-xerez-cd.html

so Javier "Patigol" Patino has been loan to Xerez, i hope he can make it to AFC Challenge Cup Qualifyers, i wanna see his calibre...

[rhk111]

You overlooked the West Asian teams. In this year's Asian Cup qualifiers, Jordan beat Singapore 4-0, Kuwait beat Thailand 3-1, Qatar beat Malaysia 2-0, and UAE beat Malaysia 2-1. The AFF countries are very competitive, but it is more realistic for the Philippines to make it to the 2015 Asian Cup (via the AFC Challenge Cup route -- North Korea will no longer participate) than for AFF countries to make it to Australia in 2015.

You got a point there, but when it comes to countries like Jordan, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq, etc., these are normally considered as Middle Eastern countries, but FIFA put them as "West Asian" countries in their zoning. South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc. are peanuts, we have all beaten them in the past, and I suspect we will continue beating them in the near future.

Yes, ruling SEA is difficult for PHL right now, and I do agree our next step should be going to the Asian Cup. Once we are there, though, expect the performance of the country in Football to plateau for decades to come, just as what happened with the other SEA teams. Incidentally, the qualifiers for the 2015 Asian Cup is ongoing, and ALL of the SEA teams have been defeated, bar none.

While at a Team Level SEA countries are languishing at the Asian level, at least we can hope that at an Individual Level our Football players can compete at a higher level. SEA players like Teerasil Dangda, for example, is now having trials with La Liga's Atletico Madrid, while Burma's Kyi Lin will reportedly do trials in Europe ...

[kerouac82]

A summary of the Azkals' 2012 Season ...

Azkals 2012 Full-Year Statistics

You said this on the entry:

SEA easily is the much tougher team than, say, most of Asia, except probably for South Korea, North Korea, Japan and Australia. The rest of the Asian Football countries are basically at least slightly inferior compared to the powerhouse SEA countries, hence it would be a bit unrealistic for us to expect to rule SEA anytime soon, especially if you factor in the fact that our local league is nowhere near the multi-million dollar leagues of the other SEA countries. In fact, I am beginning to doubt that would happen within the next decade or so.

You overlooked the West Asian teams. In this year's Asian Cup qualifiers, Jordan beat Singapore 4-0, Kuwait beat Thailand 3-1, Qatar beat Malaysia 2-0, and UAE beat Malaysia 2-1. The AFF countries are very competitive, but it is more realistic for the Philippines to make it to the 2015 Asian Cup (via the AFC Challenge Cup route -- North Korea will no longer participate) than for AFF countries to make it to Australia in 2015.