Filipino booters shine through: Epic win big goal for Phl football

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ stunning 2-0 win over Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup group stage in Hanoi last Sunday came as a shock to the winners as it was for the losers.

“We were not expecting not only to win but to play the way we did,” Juan Cutillas, who had seen the best and worst of Philippine football, said yesterday.

“But it was a great result. They were very organized. They put everybody behind the ball. They took every opportunity,” said the former coach of the Philippine team.

Filipino-British players Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband delivered the goals before 40,000 heart-broken Vietnamese fans in what could be the Philippines’ first win over Vietnam.

“I can’t recall us having beaten Vietnam in the past but we did beat Malaysia before,” added Cutillas, referring to the 1981 Manila SEA Games where the Filipinos defeated Malaysia to make it to the semis.

Skipper Aly Borromeo, Neil Etheridge, Anton del Rosario, Roel Gener, Ray Johnson and Rob Gier all had a hand in the victory.

The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Vietnamese, a regional powerhouse. If it were a boxing match, it was like Mike Tyson being knocked out by Buster Douglas.

“Or it was like Australia beating England in soccer,” said Cutillas.

Shortly after the match, the Vietnamese coach, Henrique Calisto, was seen walking past the coach of the Philippine team, Englishman Simon McMenemy, and refusing to shake hands.

“It’s a historical victory for us. We’re elated with the results. And this only shows that we can excel in football,” said interim Philippie Football Federation president Mariano Araneta.

“We have these Fil-foreign players but it also showed that our local talents can be at par with them. It was a team effort,” said Araneta.

He said there are more Fil-foreign players waiting to be tapped, most of them in Europe, but having them naturalized will never be easy.

“We don’t need to do what the Singaporeans do because in reality these Fil-foreign players are being paid well in Europe. Hopefully we can have more of them and more sponsors as well,” said Araneta.

“But this victory over Vietnam should inspire our younger players,” he added.

Cutillas coached the Philippine team from 1969 until 1986, migrated to Australia, returned in 1996 and eventually regained his coaching post before finally retiring a couple of years ago.

He said the significance of the victory over Vietnam can be viewed differently.

“First, our FIFA ranking is now at No. 151 from around 171 three years ago. And we can go farther. But does this truly reflect the standard of our football? The answer is no,” he said.

“Our ranking is improving very good because the Philippine team is being reinforced by Fil-foreign players. But our football is not improving locally. This is the reality,” Cutillas added.

He recalled the time, it was in 1970, when Andres Soriano Jr. was head of Philippine football, and in a bid to promote the sport in the country. Cutillas was asked to bring in four Spanish players to head a Philippine selection.

“They stayed here for more than a year, including Tomas Lozano. We went to the provinces and brought foreign teams to compete here. We beat Thailand twice and Singapore twice. But the biggest win was the 2-0 win over South Korea in Bacolod.”

Then the same team was invited to play in Indonesia the following year, and had a 1-1 draw with the South Korean national team.

There’s another way to view the recent victory in Hanoi.

“For international prestige, this is very good. And you can wake up our high officials in sports, and make them realize that football is a phenomenon that cannot be silenced even in the Philippines.” he said.

He said having these Fil-foreign players stay in the country for a longer period of time will bring in greater results because only then will they be able to share their talent and give benefits to the country’s football development.

“We need a more serious approach. And there must be somebody else to put in the money, someone like Dan Palami (the team manager). We need better facilities, allowances for the players, better equipment.

“Our victory over Vietnam the other day has happened before against Thailand, Singapore and South Korea. We must be very happy with this. This is an eye opener,” Cutillas added.

It’s a goal, a late goal, and hopefully, the marginal goal for Philippine football.