‘Despite World Cup, RP Soccer Will Hardly Improve’
By Alex P. Vidal
Filipinos, especially Ilonggos in football-crazed town of Barotac Nuevo, also passionately watched the recently concluded FIFA World Cup in Germany like the rest of the world. But their excitement and madness can never propel Philippine football to greater heights; not at this time when the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is wracked by politics and internal squabble.
This was the assessment made recently by Luis “Tuing” Perez, former manager of RP Team (Under 17), as the entire planet watched the nerve-wrenching July 9 championship match between France and Italy. (Italy grabbed the championship).
“We have to call spade a spade and that is Philippine football which has no future at this time,” said the 53-year-old younger brother of the late Iloilo Football Association (IFA) president Carlos “Titus” Perez, Jr.
MONEY IS FOOTBALL
Tuing Perez, admitted that “football is money and money is football.”
“Without money, football is nothing,” quipped Perez who blames the feud between the PFF headed by Johnny Romualdez and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) headed by Butch Ramirez to money and politics.
The PSC, created during the term of Pres. Corazon Aquino in 1990 to finance national sports associations (NSAs), has warned several NSAs, including the PFF, of severe sanctions if they failed to liquidate the expenses incurred in international competitions.
Perez further observed that even some World Cup players have discarded their patriotism in exchange for money; their tendency to promote themselves individually in the field while the spirit of team play has only become second fiddle.
This was shown, he stressed, when Brazil did not show any sign of deep determination as a team in its match versus France as individual players focused on how to shine so that they would earn fat contracts with big commercial ball clubs in Europe after the World Cup.
TOOL FOR UNITY
Barotacnons, Perez said, are enamored to the World Cup and to football in general as “the game unites the people in Barotac Nuevo unlike in Sta. Barbara (another Iloilo town) where football triggered a war among (their) sports leaders.” He did not elaborate.
“But even if we improved our efforts by one thousand percent, we will not excel. That’s the hard truth; the sad reality,” explained Perez, who converted his house in Barotac Nuevo into a mini-theater to accommodate football fans hooked to the live coverage on cable television.
“We watch World Cup matches live like crazy until the wee hours in the morning and the hearts of Barotacnons broke when Brazil lost to France in the semi-final,” said Perez, who managed the RP Team during the Asian Football Confederation Under 17 Group II on Oct. 11-15, 2003 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, a year after he was sworn in by Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas, Sr. as councilor of Barotac Nuevo.
RR TEAM MEMBERS
At present, only two Barotacnons are active members of the national team that competed in the last Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. They are Ian Araneta and Chepe Caligdong.
The IFA is now headed by Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Jr., a former national booter himself who is now a businessman.
“We used to have fifty percent of the members of the RP Team. But now, we only have something like twenty five percent,” he pointed out.
Perez said the French, led by Zinedine Zidane, will beat Italy because they are taller “and nobody can stop Zidane.” (Perez was proven wrong as Italy won over France, 5 – 3 after the game.)
Italy or popularly known as Azzurri, anchored by Italy vs Germany semi-final heroes Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero, erased the stigma of defeat inflicted by Brazil, 3-2, when it last landed in the finals 12 years ago in Los Angeles. /MP mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
By Alex P. Vidal
Filipinos, especially Ilonggos in football-crazed town of Barotac Nuevo, also passionately watched the recently concluded FIFA World Cup in Germany like the rest of the world. But their excitement and madness can never propel Philippine football to greater heights; not at this time when the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is wracked by politics and internal squabble.
This was the assessment made recently by Luis “Tuing” Perez, former manager of RP Team (Under 17), as the entire planet watched the nerve-wrenching July 9 championship match between France and Italy. (Italy grabbed the championship).
“We have to call spade a spade and that is Philippine football which has no future at this time,” said the 53-year-old younger brother of the late Iloilo Football Association (IFA) president Carlos “Titus” Perez, Jr.
MONEY IS FOOTBALL
Tuing Perez, admitted that “football is money and money is football.”
“Without money, football is nothing,” quipped Perez who blames the feud between the PFF headed by Johnny Romualdez and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) headed by Butch Ramirez to money and politics.
The PSC, created during the term of Pres. Corazon Aquino in 1990 to finance national sports associations (NSAs), has warned several NSAs, including the PFF, of severe sanctions if they failed to liquidate the expenses incurred in international competitions.
Perez further observed that even some World Cup players have discarded their patriotism in exchange for money; their tendency to promote themselves individually in the field while the spirit of team play has only become second fiddle.
This was shown, he stressed, when Brazil did not show any sign of deep determination as a team in its match versus France as individual players focused on how to shine so that they would earn fat contracts with big commercial ball clubs in Europe after the World Cup.
TOOL FOR UNITY
Barotacnons, Perez said, are enamored to the World Cup and to football in general as “the game unites the people in Barotac Nuevo unlike in Sta. Barbara (another Iloilo town) where football triggered a war among (their) sports leaders.” He did not elaborate.
“But even if we improved our efforts by one thousand percent, we will not excel. That’s the hard truth; the sad reality,” explained Perez, who converted his house in Barotac Nuevo into a mini-theater to accommodate football fans hooked to the live coverage on cable television.
“We watch World Cup matches live like crazy until the wee hours in the morning and the hearts of Barotacnons broke when Brazil lost to France in the semi-final,” said Perez, who managed the RP Team during the Asian Football Confederation Under 17 Group II on Oct. 11-15, 2003 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, a year after he was sworn in by Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas, Sr. as councilor of Barotac Nuevo.
RR TEAM MEMBERS
At present, only two Barotacnons are active members of the national team that competed in the last Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. They are Ian Araneta and Chepe Caligdong.
The IFA is now headed by Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Jr., a former national booter himself who is now a businessman.
“We used to have fifty percent of the members of the RP Team. But now, we only have something like twenty five percent,” he pointed out.
Perez said the French, led by Zinedine Zidane, will beat Italy because they are taller “and nobody can stop Zidane.” (Perez was proven wrong as Italy won over France, 5 – 3 after the game.)
Italy or popularly known as Azzurri, anchored by Italy vs Germany semi-final heroes Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero, erased the stigma of defeat inflicted by Brazil, 3-2, when it last landed in the finals 12 years ago in Los Angeles. /MP mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment