More tenacious Azkals battle Sri Lankans today

by Cedelf P. Tupas

COLOMBO—Skipper Aly Borromeo watched the World Cup final pitting Spain and the Netherlands at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg last year and wondered if he would ever play a single match in the sport’s biggest stage, let alone get a shot at making it there.

Borromeo and his fellow Philippine Azkals finally get that precious crack at the tournament starting Wednesday here when they battle Sri Lanka in the first round of the 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers at the Sugathadasa Stadium in this port city in the Indian Ocean.
“Every football player dreams of playing in the World Cup,” said Borromeo, a veteran of the national side since 2004.

Azkals to seek early edge vs Sri Lanka

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals will seek to gain an early advantage over the Sri Lankan Brave Reds when they clash in Round 1-1st Leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Wednesday.
The Azkals, who spent 2 weeks training in Germany, plan to beat the Brave Reds with improved offense and better team cohesion.
Filipino-Dutch Azkals Paul Mulders said he hopes the hard training they did in Germany will help them win against Sri Lanka.
“I think the guys did a good job [in training],” he said.
Team captain Aly Borromeo said the camp helped foster better communication between teammates. He added that it also forged cohesiveness with new entrants to the team.
“This is not just in preparation for Sri Lanka, it’s also in preparation for Kuwait which will be a bigger game for us,” said Borromeo.

Coach: Azkals capable of beating Brave Reds

ACTING under-23 football coach Yanti Barsales expressed confidence yesterday that the Philippine Azkals national football team has what it takes to beat the Sri Lanka Brave Reds when they clash in their first home-and-away encounter at the Sri Lankan national squad’s own home grounds at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Wednesday.

“Kayang-kaya nila iyan. Makakalusot tayo. Ito na ang pinakamalakas nating national team,” said the former member of the Azkals, who retired last month at age 38.
Barsales said the Azkals had enough time to prepare against the Brave Reds, who had also undergone a revamp and will be playing with a new lineup.

Rains can’t stop Azkals’ game

by Peter Atencio

RAIN or shine, the second stage of the World Cup Qualifying match between the Philippine Azkals national football team and the Sri Lanka Brave Reds will go on as scheduled.

WCQ Philippines general coordinator Cathy Rivilla said this yesterday after conferring with Philippine football officials on the conditions of the pitch at the Rizal Memorial Track Football in Vito Cruz.
“The field is playable. Only the referee can stop the game,” remarked Rivilla after she and Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta watched as heavy rains drenched the grass-covered playing area from the comforts of the stadium’s observation deck.
Rainwater, which flooded the surrounding streets of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, did not flood the pitch though and simply trickled down to the hidden drainage ditches around the area.
Rivilla, who was also accompanied by organizing committee chairman Bonnie Ladrido, expressed satisfaction over the way the pitch is taking on the rains.

Azkals bow to Darmstadt, but remain upbeat vs Sri Lanka

by Cedelf P. Tupas

MANILA—The Philippines football team fell in another crushing defeat Friday, this time against German third division team Darmstadt, 0-5, in its final test match before leaving for Colombo for its first round World Cup qualifying date against Sri Lanka.
The Azkals, who lost 0-4 to second division side FC Ingolstadt Wednesday, got off to another jittery start and paid dearly for it.
They fell four goals behind in the first 25 minutes in a match that reportedly drew around 500 spectators, most of whom are Filipinos based in Frankfurt.
Again missing the services of experienced players Ray Jonsson, Stephan Schrock and Jerry Lucena, who are tied up by club commitments, the Azkals surrendered one more goal in the second half.

Sri Lankans to give Azkals 'torrid time'

by Olmin Leyba
MANILA, Philippines - The Sri Lankan football team admitted lagging behind in training against what its coach labeled as “a difficult opposition” but vowed to give the Philippine Azkals a “torrid time” in their upcoming 2014 Fifa World Cup Asian qualifier.
“We commenced training late (already) due to a delayed selection process. However, we are in a positive frame of mind to counter the challenge before us,” Brave Reds coach Jang Jung said in a report on Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror.
Veteran defender Rohana Ruwanthilake leads the 25-man roster tasked by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) to do battle with the Azkals on June 29 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sri Lanka unveils 25-man team for Azkals match

MANILA, Philippines – The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) has unveiled its twenty-five man team that will go against the Azkals for the FIFA World Cup qualifier.
According to the Sri Lanka Daily Mirror, defender Rohana Ruwanthilake will once again lead the Sri Lanka national team.
Ruwanthilake has been the team captain for Sri Lanka for the past four international tournaments.
The other Sri Lankan players are:

Rizal can only seat 13,000

by Olmin Leyba

MANILA, Philippines - Organizers of the Azkals’ home game against Sri Lanka on July 3 will limit the spectators to around 13,000 to avoid overcrowding the 70-year-old Rizal Memorial Football Stadium for the highly anticipated Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers match.
Cathy Rivilla, general coordinator for the home match, said after installing individual seats at the grandstand and painting dividing lines in the bleachers in accordance with Fifa’s seat measurements, the Rizal venue can only host a capacity of 12,873 spectators.
The lower grandstand and VIP areas (blue section) will accommodate 1,872; the upper grandstand (yellow section) will seat 2,870; and the bleachers will have 8,131.

Rizal stadium ready for Azkals vs Sri Lanka football match

by Cedelf P. Tupas

MANILA, Philippines – The sprucing up of the Rizal Memorial Stadium for the Philippine football team’s first home match in Manila in a decade will be completed two weeks before the 2014 World Cup Qualifying’s first-round second-leg match against Sri Lanka on July 3.
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta made the assurance on Monday, saying almost everything was in place for the match at the 80-year-old facility, which will seat 18,000 fans.
“The construction is on time,” Araneta said. “I have nothing to fear that the Rizal stadium won’t be ready.”

Philippine Azkals ready for Sri Lanka, says Palami

by Cedelf P. Tupas

MANILA—Just like in its international campaigns during the past year, the Philippine football team will be armed and ready for battle in its most important match yet.
This was the assurance of Azkals manager Dan Palami, who said that the training camp in Duren, Germany will be the key to their success against Sri Lanka in the 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifying first round meeting.
“We’re not taking any chances against Sri Lanka,” said Palami Wednesday night during his birthday bash, which also turned out to be a testimonial dinner for retiring national player Yanti Barsales.
Palami, however, refused to make any predictions against a Sri Lankan team which remains an unknown entity for the Azkals.
“The best we could do is prepare the team the best way we can. I am confident, but Sri Lanka is also preparing for us,” said Palami, the man credited for the national team’s rise to prominence.
“I will only make a prediction as soon as I see how the team plays in Germany,” said Palami, who called the 3-4 loss to the United Football League All-Stars last Sunday as a good learning experience for the squad.
The Azkals leave tomorrow for Duren, where other players like Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Rob Gier, Ray Jonnson, Dennis Cagara, Angel Guirado and Jerry Lucena are expected to link up with the team.
Azkals coach Michael Weiss disclosed that Sri Lanka will be holding camp in Korea in preparation for the match against the Azkals. Source

Rizal Memorial Football Stadium to meet deadline for Azkals match

Renovations being done on the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium are on schedule and will be finished in time for the Philippines’ home match against Sri Lanka in the opening leg of the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers on July 3, 2011, Cathy Nazareno-Rivilla, general coordinator for the home match, informed mediamen over the weekend.

“The renovation of the seats in the grandstand are almost completed," explained Rivilla, who also managed the centennial celebration of the Philippine Football Federation last December 2007 with FIFA president Joseph Blatter in attendance.

“Work is also being done in the bleachers section. The changing rooms for both teams are almost finished. The electrical wirings are being finalized. However, not all the comfort rooms will be fixed in time, so the PFF will be placing portalets outside the stadium."

“It’s a huge facelift for a facility that has not been used in a long time," added Rivilla who has had international match experience. “We are also inviting the media to take a look at what we are doing to Rizal Memorial on June 23 at 1 p.m."

The general coordinator also said that the traffic routing scheme and other details will be unveiled to the general public in the next few days. Source

Azkals coach: German camp a good respite from Manila’s distractions

by Cedelf F. Tupas

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine football team coach Michael Weiss is looking forward to putting the Azkals in a tighter leash when they undergo a two-week camp in Germany starting Monday.

“We will not put them into prison, but we will have control over them,” Weiss said Tuesday night before leaving for Germany to make the necessary preparations for the camp in Duren, a city near the Dutch border three hours away from Frankfurt.

“We need to control if we want to

Sri Lanka Football Federation President confident of beating Azkals

The president of the Sri Lanka Football Federation, Hon. Sarath Weerasekera, a Member of Parliament has expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will beat the Azkals Philippine national team in their home-and-away matches in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge.

The first match will be played at the Sugathadasa Stadium which has a capacity of 25,000 on June 29 while the return match will be played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Juky 3.

Weerasekera, a former Rear Admiral in the Sri Lanka navy in response to questions from the Philippine Daily Inquirer said he was “very positive of beating the Philippines on aggregate” and that an intense “two week training will suffice.”

However, a pool of players not included in the Sri Lanka team that played recently in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification round in  Nepal has been training for the last two months in “a residential training camp.”

In the tournament Sri Lanka lost to North Korea which played in the last World C up 4-0, dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Afghanistan when the reserve goalkeeper made a costly mistake and held Nepal which finished second and qualified  behind North Korea to a 0-0 draw.

Azkals near peak form for duel with Sri Lanka

by Olmin Leyba

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals still have their work cut out in the last three weeks in order to get in perfect game shape for their Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers matchup with Sri Lanka.
“(We’re at) 60 percent (right now),” coach Michael Weiss said when asked to measure how the Azkals are in their buildup for the first leg in Colombo on June 29 and the second leg at Rizal Memorial on July 3.

PFF charging too much for World Cup qualifier

by Manolo R. Inigo

I wonder why the Philippine Football Federation is charging P200 for a bleacher seat for the coming Philippines-Sri Lanka World Cup qualifier on July 3 at the renovated Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Given that more than 11 million Filipinos are jobless, with many more going hungry, isn’t the PFF making it too hard on the ordinary Pinoy to appreciate the sport? The price for a bleacher seat, to my mind, is not within the reach of the common tao?
Instead of gaining more followers, the PFF might drive away new football adherents and alienate the few remaining believers in the game.

How to be a KAHOLERO

Want to be one of the Kaholeros?

Please send an email to kaholeros@yahoo.com

Subject: Kaholero for July 3

Include your full name & contact number

Requirements:

1. 5gal water bottle [cover plastics brand, flat bottom] & sticks

2. Attend June 5 Azkals vs UFL-all stars [Provincial azkaleros who want to join should be able to watch it on Studio 23. This is because we will show you how to drum.]

3. Full commitment to attend practice sessions [which will be announced after June 5. if you're outside metro manila, we will post a tutorial vid that you need to practice]

The KAHOLEROS have 200 reserved tickets in the WHITE area of  the bleachers. These reservation slots will be given to those who can comply with above requirements. 

What does reservation slots mean? Your name will be on the list of 200 Kaholeros who can directly go to Ticketworld head office to pay & get the ticket. For outside Metro Manila, we can arrange where you can pay & get your tickets.

200+ - Green & Blue Bleachers
300+ - White Bleachers
2000+ - upper

Source