Three cheers for the Azkals
| C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S |
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| Jonathan De la Cruz |
Whoever thought of the name “Azkals” for the heroic Philippine football team which got as far as the semifinals in the prestigious Asian Suzuki Challenge Cup should report immediately to Tourism Secretary Bertie Lim. The guy has certainly a talent for marketing, specifically branding, and that is what the Philippines needs to become a major tourist destination in the world. The real “Azkal” — short for Asong Kalye (street dog, for some stray dog) in Pilipino — just about describes the phenomenon that is now the 2010 Philippine football team. It is a gritty, disciplined and very focused team which defied all the odds to reach the semifinals. That it gave the defending champion Indonesian team a run for its money is no exaggeration. No less than the winning team’s head coach, Alfred Riedl, readily admitted after their 1-0 win over the Azkals last Sunday that the game “was probably their most difficult match” in the tournament because of how physically strong the Filipinos are.” Riedl added that for him the Azkals were like a European team not a Southeast Asian team. Well, they are, in more ways than one not only because they are children of mixed marriages, mainly Fil-European, but because of their talent and determination as a team to win for themselves and for their parents’ native land.
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Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101222com4.html
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