Azkals

With everyone talking about the Azkals, it seems like the country has now found a sport that can follow the path of basketball, boxing and billiards. It’s certainly a welcome break from the overdose of the Bs of Philippine sports.            

Now that the Azkals have won over Mongolia, 2-0, the current popularity level of the Azkals has surely likely gone up to even higher levels. The Azkals are being treated like rock stars wherever they go, to the point that some of their activities have had to be revised. There’s a story about how they couldn’t get down from their bus in Bacolod when they were about to step down to go to practice. Another story has it how shrieking and screaming girls are marking the Azkals even better than the way Ali Borromeo defends against the opposing team’s top striker or midfielder. Everyone wants to have a piece of the Azkals.

But what impact has this made on us on the local shores of Cebu? How has Cebu Football reacted? One of the most visible ways to see how football is doing is through the number of tournaments being played. In an excellent case of timing, Cebu picked up from the Azkals fever with three tournaments that took place or that are ongoing amidst Azkals fever. Games of the Aboitiz Football Cup have been played since September every weekend. We also had a Sinulog Cup played the first weekend of the year. Then taking place last week was the biggest ever Thirsty Cup that drew a total of 243 teams. Also being held next weekend is the CIS Friendship Cup. Running under the radar is a tournament in Consolacion which I think takes place today; at least from what I saw on a streamer in the town proper. I also heard of a tournament being played at the San Roque football field in Mandaue.

If you look at all these, you can’t help but be impressed. Somehow, Cebu is abuzz with a lot of football activity. The football festivals like the Thirsty, Sinulog and CIS Friendship Cups are one-weekend tournaments which cram a series of age group competitions in three days. An age group player will usually play on one day. He/she can also opt to join an older age group to play on another day. These are “small-sided” games, usually 7 or 5-a-side played on smaller fields; not the usual 11-a-side pro league games that we see on TV. Teams play as many as four to six games a day, and a champion is declared at the end of the day. It’s an instant reward tournament that has a winner determined after a whole day of games.

On the other hand, the Aboitiz Football Cup is a “normal” tournament with an 11-a-side format played on a regular “big” football field, the same kind of field that the Azkals played on last Wednesday in Bacolod. In terms of time and schedules, it’s a total opposite of a football festival as it lasts practically “forever.” The tournament started in September and is still ongoing, going and going….. A final match is to be played today in one division, but there are many other divisions whose classification or elimination rounds are still being played. Although long and somewhat slow to come up with a champion quickly, these are the tournaments that matter most basically because this is the game being played on an international level. This is the game that the Azkals play.

The irony of it all is that the football festival type of tournaments look like they’re getting to be more popular than the 11-a-side tournaments. And this is most likely due to the nature of getting an instant champion on a “short notice.” If you look at the number of festivals that Cebu has against the tournament with normal 11-a-side formats, you’d have to be concerned. While festivals are good for football development, we must not forget that the long term program of development should be for football players to master the regular football game that we all know about. There’s a need for the Aboitiz Cup to stand and be heard or to make as much noise as the Thirsty and Sinulog Festivals. But that’s not it. There should be more 11-a-side tournaments being held especially for the youth and age group levels.

I hope that things begin to pick up. With so many activities taking place, let’s make sure that we’re not just one big mess of excitement following Azkals fever. The real Azkal fever is doing the things that will make us reach the Azkal level. Play on!

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Time-out: Happy Family Day to Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and USC South Campus! >>> You can reach me at [email protected]