We’ve all been caught in a traffic jam, once or twice a day, and wished why won’t anybody obey the rules of the road? Why can’t red mean stop once in awhile.

We’ve all had our say, and sometimes, we took that just little bit of leeway to gain an inch, deny another motorist. Or sometimes, we cheered while the driver finally decided to beat the red light, or drive the opposite lane (I know I did).

We’ve had our say.

We’ve all been in this situation before. Once or twice a tournament, we curse the imbeciles of our FAs. They should do this, they should do that. Why are they doing that?

We’ve had our say.

Now is the time to “have our act.”

It’s called The Project.

Donate. Give. Act. Do.

Whatever you can.

It’s not simply about money. I don’t have any. You’ve got books, DVDs, used spikes, magazines—anything football.

If you don’t have any of these, don’t fret. If you’re good with computer skills, go check out all the Philippine football videos at youtube, edit it, put it in one DVD. Some kid in a barrio not far away will see that video and promise to himself, “Someday, I will be in that video.”

This is about DOING something.

If you don’t have such skills, fret no more, go tell your friends, spread the news.

Act. Do.

For when the time comes when you get asked what have you done for Philippine football, at least…saying you’ve answered all questions, posts in anything related to Philippine football in all the internet forums won’t be the first thing in your mind.

The Associated Press ran a story today, about Argentina solidifying its hold of the top spot of the Coca Cola World Rankings over Brazil.

Then at the bottom part of the story, it mentioned, this month’s biggest jumper is the Philippines, up 19 places to 170.

To be honest, I looked a bit like a crazy dude to be raising his arms, like Rocky, in a quite newsroom, while whispering Yes!

Philippine football’s presence, in the internet, was pretty much as rare as football’s presence in Philippine media.

Then Philfootball.info came along and gathered the fans.  The site was basically just a forum, a place where fans gather. The influence of that forum shall forever be felt with the name Azkals, as it was in that forum that the name was coined.

Then Pinoysoccer.com came along.  The site gave and continues to give what Philfootball.info lacked, football news, columns, updates and of course—the forum.

It can’t be denied that Philippine football is growing, the national team is finding success in the international arena, we are the whipping boys of Southeast Asia no more.

Thanks to the Fil-foreigners.  Thanks to the fans, thank to THE fan.

For it was THE fan, as the story goes, who “discovered” the Younghusbands of Chelsea, from of all things, a PC game. That fan alerted the PFF and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

That fan and others like him, is what define Pinoy football and Pinoysoccer.com.

They are hungry for news and updates, the recent crash of the website during the Asian Challenge Cup shows that hunger.

However, the website is experiencing new territory.

The previous administration simply ignored the site. That’s nothing new.

However, the current administration seems determined to ignore the site, and worse, wants Pinoysoccer.com to feel it is being ignored.

If the president was pissed because of the April Fools’ Joke then he should be prepared to deal with the fans’ reaction to his actions.  The April Fools’ Joke revealed the fool and the joke.

The president can ignore the fans for as long as he wants, after all, he can buy all the space that he can in the papers to proclaim his empty achievements.

But one thing he may have forgotten.

Azkals live and thrive without attention.

Kick ‘em.

Shoo ‘em.

Hit ‘em.

They still thrive.

And sometimes, just sometimes, they bite when least expected.

THE San Roque Football Club Girls 17-team overcame some sloppy work in a penalty shootout to rule the 4th Gus Uriarte Memorial Football Festival in Bacolod City last weekend.

Coached by Eleazer Toledo, the 12-girl team finished unscathed in the elimination round before facing San Carlos City in the semifinals.

The team, bannered by Monica and Maritoni Trebol, Renee Songalia, Jackie Ting, Elsie Ann Juezan, Angeli Ruete, KC Catarenen, Shandra Gail Colina, Cheska Jane Toledo, Ayana Gaitera, Maricris Tira–do and Aleli Mejias, found itself trailing 1-0 in the first eight minutes.

Ting equalized a few minutes after an impressive first touch allowed her to redirect Songalia’s cross to force the extension. After a scoreless extension, the match went to shootout and San Roque seemed headed to an early exit as Ruete’s brilliance between the posts was matched by futility

by Songalia, Mari–toni and Juezan, who all missed their penalties.
In the sudden-death shootout, Monica, who earned the MVP, converted her spot kick for the winning goal and arranged a championship with University of St. La Salle.

Juezan redeemed herself in the final after scoring the winning goal just four minutes into the game for the title.

Earlier in the elimination round, San Roque drew with La Salle, 1-1; blasted SSB Foundation 4-0; blanked Taytung, 2-0; and sneaked past Domingo Lacson, 1-0.

Meanwhile, national team skipper Emilio Caligdong lead West Negros A to the Men’s Open crown over West Negros B, while San Car–los FC won the Women’s Open
title.

The event was organized by the USLS Varsity and Alumni football team headed by Rani Teresa Alisan and Daisy Jane Dayon.

After a year’s absence, the Aboitiz Cup will be back, or so said the new CebuFA board.

Good news is, the new board will retain the two divisions for the Men’s Open, while there will be new age groups for Girls Football.

Now the question is, with the recent reshuffling of the teams in the Men’s Open, how will they determine which one gets to play in which division?

Also, this year, the CebuFA will finally take on the registration of individuals for its database.

But this P100 per head is sure going to raise a lot of questions (at least I will).

I may be wrong but there could be at least, a thousand players (more if we consider all the individuals involved in football) in Cebu where does the money go?

As to these database. I’m not such a big fan with how the CebuFA handled the data in their first tournament (Yes the Inter Club was officially a Queen City-organized event, but it still WAS a CebuFA event), will this new database be anything different?

Will these be just scraps or pieces of papers, tucked in a folder and left to rot until the next registration phase? Or

will this be a real database, where anyone who wants to question that “data of a certain player or individual” can access?

We’ll see.

And finally. I asked Richard whether the CebuFA will ever consider putting up a website, they said yes. I hope that happens sooner rather than later.

Putting this database on the CebuFA website, which anyone can access, sounds like a swell idea don’t you think?

I’ve long wanted to write about the “Fil-foreigners” rather on the use of the term ever since I heard Chad Gould’s father’s remarks during Mari Martinez’s visit in the CebuFA elections.

(Please check Jack Biantan, my former boss’, column at Pinoysoccer.com for reference.
To sum it up, the term Fil-foreigners, according to the senior Gould, is an insult, since these folks are 100 percent Filipinos.

They got it wrong.

The Fil-foreigner tag isn’t supposed to denote a Pinoy’s lineage, it simply serves to identify where that certain Pinoy learned the sport. Note that the “Fil-foreigner” is a term unique to Philippine football—owing perhaps to football’s global reach.

In the PBA, they are identified as Fil-Ams, or Fil-Tsongan, or as others would have it, as Fil-Shams.

These Pinoys learning of the sport–and training—is what makes them different. It’s not about lineage, or ancestry. Hence, the Fil-foreigner tag. By being named or tagged as a Fil-foreigner, they are supposed to save or to deliver…lineage notwithstanding (unless you include the purists)…Philippine football from the doldrums.

Why then do we have reports that say, the Philippine team, bannered by Fil-foreigners…or the Philippines will pin its hope on basketball gold on Fil-Ams…It is never–and was NEVER– about lineage, it is always about skills.

Take the case of billiards for crying out loud. If football has Pele, or basketball has Jordan, we have Efren Reyes. Do we have FIl-foreigners in billiards? We don’t! Instead, we have players who are identified as “Filipinos who are now based in Indonesia, Malysia or Dubai.”

No Fil-foreigners!

To the Goulds, Younghusbands, Greatwitches, Del Rosarios, don’t you ever think that being branded a Fil-foreigner is an insult. It isn’t. It should be an honor, and a privilege, something you must prove that you deserve, hence you have local players asking, what does this dude have against me that I don’t and have not experienced..except for the place where he learned the sport?

As to the change of attitude or rather the attitude that the team should adopt and learn from these Fil-foreigners (and yes, I shall continue to use that term).

In previous tournaments, the Philippines played not to lose, and not only that, they played not to lose by 10 goals or more.

When these guys showed up, they showed that not only do we have to play to win, but we CAN play to WIN!

And that, is what a Fil-foreigner is all about!

The SYKES 2008 Involve Football Tournament opened up with a BANG! The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of Cebu Football Association President Richard Montayre, who, thanked the players for their support in promoting the sport in the country and encourage them to join the upcoming CebuFA tournaments.

Despite a yearlong hiatus, each team displayed the true meaning of “For the love of the game.” Team RED and Team GREEN were both scoreless in 10 minutes into game 1. Mark Limpag had the first scoring opportunity for Team GREEN via penalty but Sherwin Ngujo was quick enough to deflect the kick and the followup. Romuel Balintag (MVP, 2006 Tournament) scored two goals for Team RED near the end of the first half. Team GREEN pushed for goals on the second half, attacking from both wings and the middle, prompting Balintag to help the defense. Team GREEN’s efforts finally paid off when Juvelon Soria sneaked past Team RED’s defense and found the back of the net. The game ended 2-1 in favor of Team RED.

Team BLACK dumped CSI (7-2) in game 2 bagging their first win for the tournament. Vince Rendon scored 2 goals and David De Madrazo added one more to seal their lead early in the first half. Kathrina Bejec scored 2 goals after getting a through pass from Dori Jay Bontilao. Juvelon Soria scored a header for Team WHITE from a corner kick well into the second half. Dori Jay Bontilao scored 2 goals after a beautiful set-up from her Dial teammates. Kristian Perez managed to sneak in a counter attack and shot below the bar, scoring the second goal for Team WHITE just before the end of the game.

Composed of mostly new players, Team LIGHT BLUE started strong this year, surprising the audience with a good display of defense. S/G Allan Daclan together with Brian Villafuerte and Eleazar Montemayor led the attacks against Team DARK BLUE but they could not break the Rabaya-Canama-Lavadia defense. Team DARK BLUE had numberous chances including a well-timed header from Sherwin Arnade but goalkeeper John Obed Enojardo was always alert and did not allow a chance of scoring a goal. A foul by Team LIGHT BLUE changed their fate, allowing Adriane Canama to score the first goal for Team DARK BLUE from the penalty spot. Jay Perasol scored the second goal on a breakaway and Julius Besana shot the third past the goalie off an assist from Canama. Game 3 ended with Team DARK BLUE blanking Team LIGHT BLUE (3-0).

* A goal by female player is equivalent to 2 goals.

From Sun.Star Cebu

FIFTEEN teams have already signed up for the Men’s Open category of the upcoming three day football tournament—the University of the Philippines (UP) Centennial Cup on June 7 to 9 at the UP Cebu College football field.

Set to compete in this competition commemorating the 100th year since the founding of UP in 1908 are House of Hope Football Club, the visiting Ormoc FC, the organizing club Uptown United FC, the home team UP Alumni FC, Lear FC, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Football Cup champion Tsuneishi FC, Talisay FC, People Support FC, Spectra FC, Xantos FC, Barili FC, Camputhaw FC, the First Uptown United Invitational Cup champion University of Southern Philippines Foundation Alumni FC and the Don Bosco Pipol FC.

Donn Rabanes, the tournament director, said he is still waiting for word if one of the city’s top teams, the Don Bosco Alumni FC, which was one of the chosen few invited in the tournament, will send a team.

This football extravaganza will also be highlighted with a friendly match between Uptown United FC and the UP selection team.

The registration fee for the event, which is the second tournament organized by Uptown, is P2,000

With the lack of tournaments in Cebu ( a weekend without football is a weekend wasted), we should be thankful for the groups, clubs and schools who organize their own football tournaments.

However, one downside of this is the common complaints of people who say the organizers swing a certain way.

Now, I generally do not pay attention to questions on referee’s bias, vis-à-vis the organizers, but saying “A tournament started by a DB affiliate is in favor of DB teams. All officials and tournament heads are biased to DB. They give high priority to DB teams and give low priority to other teams,” is quite something.

Of course, here in Cebu, you can replace the initials “DB” with Queen City, SRFC, CebuFA directors,…etc..in the previous statement.

Every referee is biased, based on which side of the fence you sit.  And as a little Ripley-believe-it-or-not, during the break between the eliminations and the semifinals of a national open, I spent a few hours enriching SMC with the referees, and they all said that “the host could have gotten a few calls their way if they just managed to treat the referees better.”

Now as to the organizer’s bias.  Did the organizer say, put the good teams in one group and put in their team in a weak group?  Did they, say in a single-knockout tournament, make the better teams face each other before the winner faces their team in the same day?

If I am wrong, do say so but as a general rule, people organize football tournaments to 1.) promote their product, 2.) support their place’s fiesta, 3.) promote their school.  But I haven’t met an organizer who put up a tournament so their team will emerge as champion.  It’s silly and counterproductive.

All this, reminds me of my football years.

Lousy organizers?  Lousy referees?  One time, after warming up, both our team and our opponents spent two hours waiting for the referee.  He arrived, alone.  Since he didn’t have any linesman, me and another opposing team’s benchwarmer had the dubious honor, of not only not suiting up for the game, but being the linesman, with only a jersey and a shirt to use as a flag.

I was going to tackle the Phil Younghusband and Joyce Ramirez “scandal” (an upgrade-your-traffice-sort-of-post), when I got the chance to read the comments in the shoutbox.

First, as to the interference, all I can say is, “Ablate Español?”

Second, as to the concern of the teams that most of the referees in the Beach Soccer Open were from Don Bosco, all I can say is:

“Duh!”

The event was organized by the Don Bosco Alumni Football Club, where will they get their referees?  Slrap?

Referees always make a judgment call, and for each call, half the players on the field will agree with it and the other half will think the referee should be skinned alive.

Unless of course, there was blatant bias, say the water boy of Opposing team punches his fellow waterboy of Don Bosco affiliated team and the star striker (or keeper) of non-Don Bosco team gets red carded for drinking water, then we have a reason to cry foul.

Otherwise, the participants should have raised the issue, knowing the organizer is affiliated with football teams, during the coaches meeting (insert sarcastic question mark and smirk.)

Of course, we could also question why the Milo Olympics, or the Cebu City Olympics have referees who are mostly affiliated with Abellana National School.

Now back to the Phil Younghusband + Joyce Ramirez “scandal.”

There isn’t.

For me, the scandal is Ramirez’s failure to aggressively promote Younghusband and the RP team.  They were in Cebu for crying out loud.  A mall tour here, a clinic there, heck even a boodle fight involving the team and the fans would have done wonders.