By Kokoy Severino
For a few brief days after the Azkals' heart-breaking World Cup Qualifier draw with Indonesia, the Philippines Football League Fans United! Facebook group blew up around an impassioned exchange that took place after the final whistle at the southeast curve of Rizal Memorial Stadium's bleachers.
I had been sitting at the opposite end of the bleachers with my family for the entirety of the gut-wrenching roller-coaster ride of a game. We waited for the customary Azkals post-match player parade to pass by on the track oval so that our four-year-old princess could get a closer look at the National Team players for whom she had been cheering all night. Then, we slowly and methodically navigated through the crowd towards the exit gates at the other end of the stands. Thus, by the time we got to the Ultras Filipinas section, the dramatic exchange had already happened and the players were making their way back across the awful artificial turf of their home pitch. I had just missed the action.
The very next morning, someone on the group suggested, perhaps frivolously, petitioning the Philippine Football Federation to ban the Ultras Filipinas from future National Team matches for their "inappropriate behavior" the previous night. In a country that can be best described as struggling in football, the banning of a group of fans who bring much-needed energy to the stadium seemed rather ludicrous to me; what the Philippines needs is more groups like Ultras Filipinas, not less, both in energetic and noisy numbers and in passionate dedication.
The long chain of comments from people responding to the suggestion, pro and con, went on past a hundred, including my own which expressed my sentiment that we needed more fans and more noise and more drumming and more chanting at Philippine soccer matches, even at the club level where the stadium is often as uncomfortably quiet as a library.
And I had to ask what could have triggered such a ridiculously extreme suggestion.
From the responses to my query and the chat chain, I pieced together information. Apparently, the Ultras Filipinas, in the heat of disappointment and frustration, did not respond favourably to the Azkals players' appeal for a viking clap, a cheer routine trending at stadia around the world since the 2018 World Cup when Icelandic fans made it fashionable. Instead of joining the National Team in a spirit of unity, people in the Ultras Filipinas section chose to ignore the call; some even went so far as to verbally mock and disparage the team after what they apparently saw as an unsatisfactory performance on the field.
Someone on the chat shared with me a cell phone video of Neil Etheridge still in full uniform, captain's armband and all, standing alone addressing people somewhere off-camera in the Ultras section. I saved a link to that video, but days later as I prepared to write this piece, the video was no longer to be found anywhere in the universe, maybe taken down to try and erase any references to the exchange and save some people the embarassment of their regrettable words hurled at Etheridge as he was speaking.
I wish that video was never removed, because to me, Etheridge's speech ranks as one of the greatest ever delivered by a goalkeeper. He may have appeared to be channeling some Llywelyn the Great from his Cardiff City glory days, but Etheridge's fiery extemporaneous oration that night undeniably was as leader of the Maharlikan nation on the football battlefield.
What I recall from the now-removed video, without equivocation, in no uncertain terms, in a booming voice loaded with emotion and determination, Etheridge yelled on behalf of his teammates how they left everything on the field for the country. His hardened jaw and eyes on fire reminded me of the legendary Peter Schmeichel who would shout at his team with similar intensity as he captained them from between the sticks all the way to the 1992 European championship, Denmark's only continental trophy.
There was plenty of emotion and passion circulating in the muggy Manila air, especially just minutes after the final whistle blew on what could have been a critical victory for the Philippines. The disappointment and anger expressed by the voices emanating from the Ultras bleacher section behind the camera could represent quite truthfully the emotions swirling around the entire Philippine football world in those moments. Disappointment is a natural response to a devastating result. In football, a home draw is just as bad as a loss.
But I think the anger articulated by those in the Ultras section that night was a bit misdirected. Sure, we should all be angry - but not at our National Team. One thing I have learned in decades of coaching is that the most I can reasonably expect from my team is their best. The Azkals did deliver their best on November 21, almost good enough to defeat an Indonesian program that has been eating our lunch since the 1950's, beating us 20 out of 26 matches and piling up a +74 head-to-head goal differential. Under this light, I would have to say that the recent Philippines record of one win, one loss and three draws against Indonesia since 2014 is a positive sign of improvement.
Where the Ultras' anger should be directed is the historic failure of the Philippine football powers-that-be to establish a system that effectively develops the Filipino youth footballer. I would even go so far as to conclude that the Filipino youth footballer has been systemically excluded from development opportunities on a national scale, thus perpetuating the current process of assembling a national team at the proverbial last minute composed almost entirely of players produced in other countries. The heroic effort and unparalleled work ethic of our current national team players and coaches notwithstanding, this process has never taken the Philippines anywhere close to the big dance; our record in World Cup Qualifying is replete with early-round exits.
This approach is a symptom of much larger societal challenges that have plagued the Philippines for generations. I'll leave that for the social anthropologists and macroeconomists to dissect, but this is where the Ultras' anger should be directed, which would be more harmonious with broad swathes of Philippine society.
I know that Coach John Gutierrez, the new Philippine Football Federation President, has seen the light, and his declared intent to bolster the domestic youth development system must be applauded, encouraged, supported, and most importantly empowered, enabled, and held to account if unfulfilled.
An effective national youth development system has been the key ingredient critically missing in the Philippines' protracted struggle for World Cup qualification.
For every country who qualified for Qatar in 2022, I have compiled below a spreadsheet outlining their youth records at their respective confederation U17 and U20 championships as well as the World Cup tournaments in those age brackets. For purposes of comparison, the Philippines' record is in the top row.
 |
| Legend: QF - quarter-final, SF - semi-final, R16 - round of 16, R1 - first round, R2 - second round, Gp - group, AFF - ASEAN Football Federation, UNAF - Union of North African Football, WAFF - West Asian Football Federation, CAFA - Central Asian Football Association |
A brief examination of this table yields indisputable evidence that every team who qualified for the 2022 World Cup had a continuum of competitive development that begins at the youth stages. This is a critical element they all had in common - every team at the World Cup in Qatar had a record of success at the U17 or U20 levels, an overwhelming majority of them in both. It is a continuum of competitive development that is unbroken from youth all the way to the top senior level.
A World Cup Qualifying campaign cannot begin six months before match day one; on the contrary, it begins eight years before match day one. In other words, the 12-year-old Filipinos today are the ones needing to be developed and prepared for U17 competition against their international peers four years from today, and for U20 seven years from today, and then U23 and the World Cup beyond that. These countries who consistently qualify are implementing a national development strategy that is perpetually producing youths year after year who can compete globally.
The Philippines must stop denying our youths their right to development and opportunity. It is time for all of us now to follow Neil Etheridge's lead and leave everything on the field to establish a national development system that will excel at the youth levels leading to the World Cup promised land. Coach Gutierrez is of the mindset to change the direction of Philippine football, and I believe in him when he says he knows how to do it. But it takes commitment on a national scale.
What I hope for now is that the owner of that cell phone video from the night of November 21 will bleep out the disparaging and embarrassing remarks coming from the bleachers, and edit it isolating Neil Etheridge's fiery speech to capture his burning fervor crying out his and his national teammates' raging incontrovertible commitment to country, leaving everything on the field.
Then spread his speech out to all the players and coaches all over the Philippines as a motivational tool so they can hear, feel, see his passion. Let the height of Etheridge's rage vented in that speech define the standard of commitment to the future of our youths in every corner of the land. Let his passion flow to the mountains of Bukidnon and the rivers of Palawan, to the sun-drenched sands of Samar and the hilltops of Jolo, let it shine all the way to the islands of Tawi-Tawi and along the winding passes of Quezon, let his words ring from the lush fields of Ilocos and Pangasinan to the ancient slopes of Mindoro and Benguet, carried from the smoldering volcanoes of Batangas and Albay to the shores of Zambales and Aklan and the streets of Zamboanga, let them feel it in Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Laguna, all the way to Kalayaan in the West Philippine Sea.
And tell our youths unequivocally, "Here is your National Team Captain; we will rise and meet him where he is at..."
****************
Philippines Men's National Team results and fixtures, 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asia Second Round Group F (all kickoff times local at venue):
November 16, 2023 – Philippines 0-2 Vietnam @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
November 21, 2023 – Philippines 1-1 Indonesia @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
March 21, 2024 – Iraq vs Philippines @ Iraq, venue and time TBD
March 26, 2024 – Philippines vs Iraq @ Philippines, venue and time TBD
June 6, 2024 – Vietnam vs Philippines @ Vietnam, venue and time TBD
June 11, 2024 – Indonesia vs Philippines @ Indonesia, venue and time TBD
 |
| Photo by Dad. |
No comments:
Post a Comment