The Philippine national football team
Did you know… ?
… we DO actually have a football team.
The team is based in Bacolod City and is managed by the Philippine Football Federation.
… Pinoy football is not what you think it is.
It’s not a Peyton Manning -
But a David Beckham -
Soccer, more popularly known outside the U.S. as the football, is what Filipinos are more into. At least that’s what our Phys Ed introduced it to its students. Outside of following the annual National Football League championship games on satellite, football was never as followed as closely as football-soccer.
… our team name is Azkals.
Or, askal which is really short for ‘asong kalye’. In English, it’s translated “street dog”. And don’t ask me why that is.
…. We are the oldest football team in Asia!
Yep. The team was founded in 1907 and had its first game in February 1913 against China, on our home soil. There’s no record of who won, though.
… But we’re not ranking well these days.
Unfortunately, the team hasn’t been playing well of late. As of August 22, 2007 our FIFA ranking is way down at #169, but we actually improved since October 2006 when we hit lowest at #195.
.. the team still needs our support!
More power to pinoy soccer!
Tags: national football league, nfl, peyton manning, david beckham, soccer, FIFA, Azkals, philippines, football, team
25 Comments
[...] of Filipina Soul talks about which football is played in the Philippines… think Beckham rather than [...]
how can we support them?
[...] Oh, and if you’re NOT a football fan – then you might be a soccer fan, in which case, this post is for you. HERE. [...]
its hard to say how to support the soccer team in the philippines, if the nation even the government have a basketball mentallity. We need to open and give a chance to a soccer.maybe by giving chance and introduce it to provinces in which it has a bigger playing space.and I dont know about the government side maybe by providing the financial support would do.and the government or other personalities to introduce it to the media to enduce the game to the filipinos.promoting through ads maybe.I am soccer player before but without a league or a better support for the national team, I discourage myself to play more.so maybe an individual support would do I think.
hey..we also have a soccer team hear in pampanga…the team is composed of 16 players…and 3 more are upcoming…we have an injured striker who’s gonna be out for 8-10 months due to a broken fibula…the team would like to play on an open league if possible…would you know some tournaments near pampanga?
Just a question, was the hartmanns a part of azkals?
Thanks.
it is looking promising for filipino football with the coming of the brothers phil and james younghusband and a few others.it will take a bit of time before the pinoys embrace football,realistic we have a better chance of achieving something because the game is more suitable for our physical attributes.basketball is an ideal game for tall atheletes not short.when i see filipino playing basketball its almost a parody.good luck to the azkals hopefully they give all the kababayan something to shout about in the future.
Damn! I like American Football I want to play it here in our country! Please Tell the givernment to INTRODUCE AMERICAN FOOTBALL TOO!!!!!!
I live in England and have played football (soccer) for many years, I am also a fully qualified Football Coach! I would love to help develop soccer in the philippines, it is a great sport and really does bring people together! My father lives in Manila and has done for years so I spend my vacations in the philippines, you are all such wonderful people and i would love to help you out!
hi…i just wana be a phlippine team someday…i am a goalkeeper….give me a chance..pls
why don’t we get far from sports and have another kind of mentality sport like football (soccer) . there are many professional football team and a trainer from foreign land who are willing to introduce this sports from our country Philippines. my email add:angelinmyshoulder620@yahoo.com
There’s no way they can get to the International team. First look at the stats of our economy and country. Our country is in a corrupt situation. We have billions of owes. And the government doesn’t support Soccer but they support Basketball at all. I like to ask that if there’s a Filipino NBA player? No, I never heard. But we have a professional soccer players like Phil and James Younghusband. But still we also have a potential players in Visayas and Mindanao. IF ONLY WE DON’T HAVE A ANY PROBLEMS WITH OUR INDUSTRY WE CAN HAVE A INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINE FOOTBALL FEDERATION TO PLAY ON, ON THE WORLD CUP. Readers of this comment just think of it, if we started to play soccer nor football-soccer when we’re young and continue to play until collage, WHAT’S NEXT? After collage your soccer career is all done. HAPPY EVER ENDING. But there’s a way to continue your career to be the First Ever Filipino Chelsea,Man chester United, Real Madrid, Celtic or whatever. The only things to do is to go to abroad like Japan or Korea or Malaysia. There’s a big soccer league there !! Japan League, Korean League and Super League. But there’s no way to go there without money. I’m discourage to continue my studies in Philippines. Next year I will live in Japan for my future career.
I forgot to say something.
No matter what, JUST FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS !!
- Impossible is nothing
the biggest problem in the philippines is the corruption,it stops the progress of the country both in economics and sports. Its rather ironic really because the people in power should be looking after the interest of the people but instead they exploit them.Its a pity because the filipinoes have great potential to do well at any sports they set their hearts onto because we are naturally creative ,physically strong and always have the will to work hard.But until we stop thinking about ourselves rather than the interest of the masses we will never fullfill our true potential as a country both in sports and economics.mabuhay ang filipino
Cheer up!!!
Help and support and not rely everything neither blame our goverment .There are many sponsors who are only waiting to knock at their door,only to find who are they.(to acieve our dreams and help buid our nation into progress)
i want to support by joining the team. please give me a chance. if ever please contact me through my email which is charlestan17@yahoo.com. thank you. i’ve been longing to play for the country for so long now. btw, i’m a center midfielder and i’m 13 years old. i hope you will give me a chance.
I noticed that, our government, they actually support the Team Azkalz. But look at the Philippines FIFA Ranking. We’re in the bottom. And look at the past few games. Almost all of the matches are loss or tie. You can see some of the game won but the opponent team is also in the bottom of the Ranks. I heard that Team Azkalz won yesterday. The score is 1 – 0. They should score more and more. It’s just a Brunei. Not like well known Football Countries. Some of the soccer players in the country said “Di naman tayo sumasali sa FIFA World Cup eh”, “Kaya di sumisikat ang Pilipinas kasi di namn tayo lumalaban sa International Tournament”. Actually they played in FIFA Qualifiers, but they lost. They scored 5 and more against us. I think it’s not a Government’s fault. If we can’t win, it’s a shame.
Supporting the national team is not enough,they have to spend more time and money on the infrastacture whereby proper coaching on grass root level have to be focus on because thats your source for the future.I`m not saying that we are going to get immediate result by just the goverment investing on the national team,we need to built for the future and for the long run.we have to think 15-20 years in advance by means encouraging young kids to play football and hopefully get a national league together.its all about our vision where we want to progress in 20-30 years time.it takes time to change a culture.and i have the utmost confidence that if we put our mind and heart to it we will be sucessfull.lets have that lapu-lapu spirit where we need to start thinking about our people rather than just ourselves.mabuhay ang filipino
I agree with one writer.The government should invest more in football(soccer)&less in basketball coz soccer is a MAJOR world game,unlike basketball.Im married to a Filippina&play soccer& i live in Australia&what is happening here is basketball seems to be dieing a slow death,while soccer is going from strength to strength! There is money to be made in soccer,both on the local scene&for the media&the country.World prestige which brings tourism.$ for the country!!!! I would love to be part of a Philippine national soccer team. GO THE PHILIPPINES!!!!!
where will be the host of mens national open this year? everybody is waiting for it….
im not exactly a soccer fan ( i view this sport a bit boring>>>thats may openion>>>) but what this psort needs is not really so much of the state’s pornsoship but rather private investments like what basketball, boxing and billirds have…i could even say volleyball and baseball are now having good private investments….because these enterprises posses more money than the gpvernment and they are able to market the sports like what san miguel did for basketball, boxing and billiards (remember efren reyes, pac man and sna migule basketball team?) we dont see this in football or in other sports
what an oportunity you guys are missing
not only is footbal the number 1 sport in the world but you pinoys have the best recipy for wining
you have lots of people the wright weight height and disipline
you also have poverty that is possible the best ingredient to promote the sport
in a few years you could be number 1 in asia
what r u waiting 4?
im from Manila, i think not only the government has the fault why soccer “football” is not popular in our country but also the lack of interest of the people ,private groups and media.
Look at local tv news and newspapers they don’t publish soccer events, local tv dont televize famous leagues (serie,barclays,la liga) so how will the masses will ever know this game. When you go to Nike store or some sports store the majority is all about basketball.. and yet we dont even have a slot in FIBA asia.
Here in the Manila, soccer has no place because all areas are full of slums and there are no more vacant lots, there are no open grounds except for private schools where only rich kids can play. Thats why the masses prefer basketball bcoz they can play it at their backyard, or a covered court
THe first impression of people about football here is that its very boring bcoz it takes time to have a goal, and many of the masses dont like that way thats why basketball is the majority. Its sound like “they are very lazy to run” haha
First of all i completely dis agree of the lack of space because in Brazil they what they so called Favela`s and they produce some of the best football players.We have the perfect economical and population issue that will bread good football players.So we rather persevere in a sports that we are completely no good at,Filipino basketball is a parody,we dont have the right physical attribute to go even near a basketball.Football is the way forard for the filipinoes the rest of the world will tell you and its better we realise now than later.
So there are 2 kinds of Football? Football w/ beckham and American Football?
Can any1 answer this? is there a AMERICAN FOOTBALL TEAM here in Philippines? coz i want to join.. hope for any1’s reply.
Tnx to anime eyeshield21, it triggers my interest in this sport.