Kickin' it with the college footballers
MANILA, Philippines - Football gets a lot of guff for being called “The Beautiful Game.” After all, it’s diffi-cult to imagine how you can enjoy 90 minutes of 22 guys trying to kick a ball x number of times, only to succeed on an average of once or twice. True, the earth-bound immortals who play the game are usually reason enough to watch (Cristiano Ronaldo being reason number one, and his abs being reason number two), but to non-football aficionados — and there are plenty of them here — they just don’t get it.
Unlike basketball, the reigning Filipino favorite, football has the features of an upper-crust snob. Its fan base seems to be exclusive to the affluent, as football here is played in posh universities with well-manicured fields. Its teams are bevies of cultured mestizos with surnames that could twist the tongue. In fact, what used to be humbly called “soccer” is now referred to as “football,” and is unfailingly accompanied with the haughtiness of upturned European noses. Football appreciation in the Philippines has, until recently, happily found itself a cult-like following that gather in pubs that hosting viewings of matches to cheer for countries that were most definitely not the Philippines.
But now these football orphans have found themselves a home, and it’s right back in the motherland. Ever since Philippine national team’s first semi-final qualification in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, the Azkals became the new buzzword. Healthy, well-heeled, and endearingly coy, they’ve become overnight rock stars, with mainstream media and adoring fans gleefully tagging along.
With the influx of publicity for our national team pouring in, it won’t be too long before the rest of our football culture emerges from obscurity and exclusivity. To hope wouldn’t be too quixotic, no? Because like the 90 minutes it takes to score one or two goals, the Filipino football phenomenon seems to adopt a discipline of delayed gratification. It may not score often, but when it does, it’ll be worth the wait.
Perhaps, by then, calling it the beautiful game won’t seem so odd.
Frankie Abraham
First year, BS-Applied Mathematics, Major in Mathematical Finance
Ateneo de Manila University
Women’s varsity football team member
What goals have you set for yourself this year?
To become fit in mind, body, and spirit!
What qualities of an athlete do you think will help you attain your goals?
Time management and keeping my priorities straight should be able to help me achieve my goals. If I make sure that I can balance all my work and practice along with family and God, then I shouldn’t be stressed out.
Sam Nierras
Fifth year, BS-Electronics and Communication Engineering
De La Salle University-Manila
Women’s varsity football team member
What goals have you set for yourself this year?
My priorities will always be first and foremost my education. I’m currently working on my thesis for electronics engineering so I hope to finish that this year.
What qualities of an athlete do you think will help you attain your goals?
Discipline and persistence are traits I’ve gained from being an athlete and I think it plays a big role in how I am as a person on and off the field. Attaining any goal in life requires the desire for the goal, the discipline and persistence to work for it, and humility in success and failure.
