Azkals (Philippine futbol's poster boys)

[SaintPeter5858]

have you watched the game in Bacolod?

[mikeskillz]

Azkals sucks haha!

[blow_gobi]

Sa August pa yata yung mga friendlies ng Azkals in the US and Bahrain. Then the Lo Teng Cup which PH plans to host in Sep if there are sponsors. Vietnam is also inviting Azkals for a friendly before the Suzuki Cup.

[SaintPeter5858]

When will be their next international exhibition game?

[kokomonster]

cant wait for the suzuki cup

[SaintPeter5858]

Malaysia and Thailand are co-hosts of the 2012 Cup. Good luck to the Azkals!

[BIZMANfan]

I was there during the championship between the Global FC and the Loyola Meralco. Mukhang some Filipinos are really not into football pa rin.

[game_boy]

we are in the group of vietnam and thailand for the suzuki cup, i hope we can make some miracles again

[Your Tito]

For the full draw and fixtures:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_AFF_Suzuki_Cup

[kokomonster]

group of death nanaman. tsk.

[blow_gobi]

Country FIFA Ranking

 

Group A

 

Vietnam 120

Thailand 135

Philippines 152

Qualification winner

 

Group B

 

Indonesia 153

Malaysia 157

Singapore 158

Qualification runner-up

 

 

Group of death nga talaga!

[rafael77]

lumabas na rin ang tunay na kulay ng mga younghusbands. money down and i'll be a filipino and play for the national team. interesado pa rin ba nag mga kababaihan natin sa philppine team and soccer? now that the younghusbands are out? interesting times.

[kempaf]

halos puro mga half-breed na mga players.

 

chieffy caligdong at ian araneta lang ang kilala kong puro.

[blow_gobi]

Si Ed Sacapano (goalkeeper - Phil Army), Marwin Angeles (USTe o UP, I'm not sure), at ilang mga half-breeds na dito na lumaki sa 'Pinas tulad yata ni Misagh Bahadorian (Fil-Iranian).

 

With the success of the team in September, FIFA is predicting at least a 2-notch rise in the Azkal's ranking when the latest ranking is released on Oct 4. Which means #148 from #150 in Sep (highest rank of Azkals was #147 right after the AFC Challenge Cup in March).

 

3 more interesting international friendlies are coming up before the Suzuki Cup in mid-Nov. These are games vs. Kuwait (#100), Bahrain (#112) and Singapore again (#156). If the Azkals draw their game with either Kuwait or Bahrain, they are likely to increase their ranking again.

[rafael77]

goalkeeper ang kailangan nating hanapin. ethridge is the same breed as the 'feeling superstar' younnghusbsnds. sacapano isnt it. marami yan. hanap lang tayo sa mga probinsys. wag na sa ateneo, lasalle and up.

[blow_gobi]

Latest FIFA ranking is out. PH azkals actually made a 3-notch improvement to #147, its highest ranking ever so far (correction to my earlier post: the highest rank attained before this was #148, not #147, in April 2012). Due to 4 wins in Sep, including the 3 in the Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup.

 

It's possible for the national team to improve its ranking further next month, if it at least draws either one of its two friendlies (vs. #112 Bahrain and #100 Kuwait) this October. If it does so, the Philippines will overtake Thailand and become the 2nd highest-ranking team in ASEAN after Vietnam.

[secureid123]

sayang, mas malakas sana kung kasali sila pero inuna nila ang pera. sa dami ng endorsements nila, kulang pa rin sa kanila yun. akala ko ba for the love of country kaya sila naglalaro tsk tsk.

[blow_gobi]

Even if the Azkals lost to Kuwait (1-2) last night, they are still expected to rise in the FIFA ranking to their new high in November because of the draw with Bahrain the previous week. This will make them the 2nd highest ranked team among 11 teams in Southeast Asia after Vietnam. And if they just duplicate their semi-final finish in the Suzuki Cup 2 years ago, their ranking will rise further to perhaps within the Top 140 in the world.

Edited October 17, 2012 by blow_gobi

[Vegasboy32]

lumabas na rin ang tunay na kulay ng mga younghusbands. money down and i'll be a filipino and play for the national team. interesado pa rin ba nag mga kababaihan natin sa philppine team and soccer? now that the younghusbands are out? interesting times.

 

Parang lumalabas tuloy na dahil mga gwaping ang mga Azkals kaya sumikat. Mas nauna pa nga nakarating sa FIBA world championships ang Smart Gilas. Ang Azkals mukhang matatagalan pa bago maka tuntong sa World Cup.

[*kalel*]

parang nanahimik sila lately.... in terms ng media mileage

[kokomonster]

bihira kasi ang games at walang home game dito sa manila recently

[Why So Serious]

malungkot si Kamote Younghusband, break na sila ng Dyosa.. ang Dyosang nagngangalang Angel Locsin.. puro PDA lang wala namang aminan..

[Larry]

Azkals are now the best team in South East Asia, after their recent win in the Peace Cup.

 

That's not bad considering where we started, we're starting to become a serious contender in the region, and basing it on the signings of Azkals players to different clubs all over the world, people are starting to notice the Philippines as a serious football nation.

 

and to the guy who said that Smart Gilas beat the Azkals because they got to the world championships first...

 

The Philippines had 35 years to get back into the championships. remember that.

 

Azkals are basically a rebuilding team, in if you start from the time they really got serious, you only have 10 years or so until we've reached this status.

 

Plus given the sports infrastructure of the Philippines, it's easier to get into the FIBA world championships than the FIFA World Cup. The philippines already have the grassroots penetration to start training kids from when they were young, we have strong youth programs, a solid collegiate program, a sophisticated pro-league (one of the best in Asia) plus millions of sponsors. In short all the resources to get the Philippines back to the world championships is already there. the groundwork has been laid out and it was all a matter of tweaking it bit by bit to perfect the system.

 

Philippine football has no where near the support basketball has. They have a certain degree of exposure yes, but all the other cogs are still not there. there's still a lot to be done and it's not just winning games.

 

That's why I laugh at people who want the Philippines in the world cup in the next few years. a huge LOL at that. they simply don't understand. The world cup is the pinnacle of the sport, where only the best football countries compete. countries who have football in their blood, where kids as young as 5 get enrolled in grassroots programs, farm teams who will eventually turn them into pro ballers. We're nowhere near that, we're on our way but not their yet. Get real. This isn't a movie.

[blow_gobi]

In Feb 2011, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) finally got some support from Smart Communications Sports Foundation and set the following targets for the Philippine Azkals by 2013:

 

1. To be the #1 Team in Southeast Asia (it was #5 in ASEAN in Feb 2011; #23 in Asia)

 

2. To be among the world's Top 130 teams (it was #152 in Feb 2011)

 

As of Dec. 2013 the Azkals are:

 

1. The #1 Team in ASEAN (#17 in Asia)

 

2. The # 127 Team in the world

 

Mission accomplished. Now they have to aim higher.

 

Reason why they were routed by UAE (4-0) and had a hard time with India (1-1) in November: only about 50% of the normal team's normal strength took part as most of their high caliber players were on active duty for their clubs in Europe (and couldn't released for the friendlies). The participants in the friendlies were mostly UFL and U-23 players.

Edited December 19, 2013 by blow_gobi

[blow_gobi]

Correction: The Azkals were #28 in Asia in Feb 2011