Sporting siblings

MANILA, Philippines - They are being tagged as the other Azkal brothers. Before the Younghusbands entered the picture, there were Armand and Anton del Rosario, the Filipino-Spanish soccer siblings who were there from the beginning and thus, saw it all: How the Philippine Azkals evolved from being ignored athletes to celebrated sporting icons in the country, with endorsement deals — whether as a group or as individuals — to boot.

The two were introduced as the new endorsers of Sun Life Financial, joining Piolo Pascual, social entrepreneur Bam Aquino and celebrity mom Pia Magalona in a presscon at the World Trade Center Manila last week.

Armand and Anton are among the pioneers of the Azkals, the country’s national football team. However, it’s only Anton, 29, who has remained with the Azkals, after an injury sidelined older brother Armand, 32, for good. But through the years with the team, it hasn’t been hard to notice that both have more low-key profiles next to say, the Younghusbands.

Armand, who used to play the left back position for the Azkals, told The STAR with laugh, “I figured that if I started younger, I didn’t have my family and I was playing at my peak, then maybe... but then you have James and Phil (Younghusband) there and they are playing very well.”

Defender Anton said, “It’s good to be a little bit more low-key. You’re more to yourself. And they’re great guys, in fairness to Phil and James.”

More than anything, the brothers are happy that the sport has generated attention of national — and crazed, if we may add — proportions.

“I’m done with the national team. After my knee operation, I’m too slow. It would have been nice to be playing with my brother,” said Armand. “But for me, more than anything, I’m happy at the fascination over the sport in general. The sport has just gone through the roof. Everyone has become a football fan. If there are fans of the players, that’s good as well, but to have more fans of the sport, that’s the most important thing.”

For his part, Anton said: “It’s really been overwhelming because I’ve been with the team since 2003. I’m one of the elders and the seniors on the team now, so it’s good to have seen how it developed and how people are paying more attention to it now.”

Reflecting on this newfound popularity, Anton further said, “Our lives have changed quite a lot. You walk around and people notice you; you have picture-taking and autograph-signing and stuff like that. Of course, we’ve experienced being ignored before, and that’s not exactly a bad thing. There are advantages and disadvantages with our status now. But that’s life.”

But both remember very well the way things were. Armand, who partly owns and still plays for the premiere football club Kaya also along with Azkals team captain Aly Borromeo, shared, “For me, from when I played to what I see now, when I started playing, you’re supposed to get an allowance of P5,000 a month and it never came. We really just played for the love of country, love of the game and love for teammates.”

He added, “Now you have Dan Palami as manager, the biggest supporter. And you have a lot of support now from companies and you have guys being flown from Europe.”

Anton couldn’t help but liken their story to a fairytale. “Dan Palami came in 2009; he was just a football lover, and there really wasn’t anything going on for football in the country in 2009. He came out of nowhere, picked it up, paid for everything from his own pocket, and boom, we ended up doing well, being successful and it led to what football is now in the country. It’s a Cinderella story and Dan Palami is our ‘fairy godmother,’” he said.

The brothers, who grew up in the States and moved back to the Philippines in 1997, are also aware of one issue leveled against the mixed-blood ancestry of most of the members of the Azkals. But Anton was quick to stress, “We’re all Filipinos no matter what they put out there. We are playing for the country and we wouldn’t be out there if we weren’t Filipinos.”

There are four of them boys in the family although the other two are not into soccer. Nevertheless, their closeness and influence on each other is palpable and translates to their mutual interests. Family time and movies are their idea of downtime, and both are strong advocates of financial planning (that’s why Sun Life tapped them) given some uncertainties in the lives of athletes.

The two have also notched other endorsement deals, appeared in advertisements and graced magazines, although Armand said that in his case, it’s usually with his model-wife (of the Revilla clan) and three children. Anton, on the other hand, is single. Any showbiz offers? Armand laughingly spoke up for his brother, “He’s single. He’s enjoying. If there are showbiz offers in the future, I’ll be his manager. But right now, he’s really focused on football.”

It’s obvious that the bond between Armand and Anton was nurtured amid the rough and tumble play on the soccer field. When we queried for a bit of background as to how they got into it, the two immediately got caught up in a brotherly repartee.

They got introduced to the sport when they were around five years old, with Anton saying, referring to his brother: “This guy sort of got me into it as a kid. He always had that big brother competitiveness. This guy hated if I scored, ha ha ha!”

Armand reacted, “Growing up, I wasn’t competitive because I was always the better player. Then it got to a point...”

“He got old! Ha ha ha!” Anton piped in.

“Okay, it came to a point that I didn’t have the age advantage anymore, maybe the wisdom... So he got better than me,” Armand conceded.

Anton enthused, “He admitted it! Finally, on record.”

Armand countered, telling this writer: “You can delete that out!”

The playful exchange aside, Armand is feeling his younger brother’s pressure as the Azkals gears up for its next match against Kuwait. As this is being written, the group is in the thick of preparations in its campaign for a spot in the World Cup 2014 — this, in spite of controversies (like the rape allegations, which have been vehemently denied already) causing the “unnecessary distraction.”

Anton said, “It’s an uphill battle. A lot of people don’t understand that it takes several steps to get to the World Cup. What we may be doing are baby steps. But getting past our first game, against Sri Lanka, was a big step. It’s the first time in history that we were able to pass the first round to the World Cup.”

He added, “A lot of people are saying Kuwait could be a World Cup team (or one of the Top 32 teams in the world). It’s gonna be the best team we’re gonna play against in the history of football in the Philippines.”

If there were any consolation, it would be the fact that they’re going into that match as the underdog team. “It’s always nice going in as an underdog, since the pressure and expectations are not really on you. And we play better when we don’t have our backs to the wall. So now, it opens up anything. In football, anything can happen.”