Philippine Azkals’ Sidelights
SOURCE: Patricia Bermudez-Hizon
For Yahoo! Southeast Asia
As the Azkals prepare for their big semi-final showdown against Indonesia, team manager Dan Palami shares some interesting titbits about the team, and gives insight on their dynamics. There’s still a lot of things to polish before they leave on Tuesday, particularly improving on their defense and their transition to offense. But one thing that’s solid in the team which gives them an edge is their chemistry.
Small Things, Big Diff
You have service men and professionals, locals and Fil-foreigners, seasoned and young players, veterans and newbies, men from different walks of life coming together to play as one unit. Chemistry was an issue until a brotherhood system was introduced. “We set up a fining system where players were charged P50.00 for sitting beside people he was already friends with. If you’re an air force guy, you can’t sit with another air force guy. Fil-foreigners also had to sit with the locals. WE just wanted to make them aware of building relationships with others. Naturally, you tend to mingle with someone you can talk to so the effort isn’t there. By the time we were in Vietnam, we didn’t even need to remind the players to interact because they were so used to it already.
“I made efforts to form good camaraderie and we started with the basics”, shared Palami. “If we go out for breakfast, lunch or dinner, we go as a team and we leave as a team. No one gets left behind. Even in the room assignments we made sure that it was an opportunity to build the chemistry. We mixed people together. Even the Younghusbands never bunked together”.
Small things do make a big difference.
Neil or Nil
Neil Etheridge is such an asset to the Azkals. But at any moment, he can be whisked away. According to team manager Dan Palami, they’ve always had an agreement with Fullham that if something happens to their goal keeper, Etheridge would have to go back. “But we’re so grateful to the management of Fullham for releasing Neil to us. The condition we have with them is nothing new. And we’ll abide by it should the need arises. That’s why we’re always praying for the health of their current crop of goal keepers at Fullham.
Super Patriotic
Palami shares that even when the players are not donning their uniforms, they carry the nation’s colors in their hearts with pride. “Some have questioned the presence of the Fil-foreigners but what they don’t see is that they are very patriotic. They’re even more patriotic than most people I meet in the streets”.
You know you can count on these players, and they’ve sacrificed so much. He discloses that players like Etheridge have taken pay cuts and were getting considerably more with their mother ball clubs.
“Everytime we mingle with other countries, you see pride in their eyes. You can feel how proud they are to be Filipinos”.
Funny
Filipino-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong is probably one of the funnier characters in the teams. He loves to perk up his teammates and provide a break from the intense atmosphere by screaming “Mahal Kita” to the ones on the pitch, heavy with his Dutch accent. He doesn’t speak Tagalog but he tries his best, much to the delight of the squad.
30-year-old Rey Johnson who plays in the first division in Iceland doesn’t speak Tagalog either. But he’s fluent in Bisaya and he gets to use it when talking to the other Visayan-speaking members of the team.
Bench Support
Palami is really proud of the attitude of the players on the bench. “They know they might not be able to play but they still maintain a really positive outlook. They’re the first ones to pat the players on the back and give them encouragement. But more than that, they make sure that they continue to work hard so when their number’s called up, they’re ready”.
Earning their Spot
Phil and James Younghusband had a disgruntled relationship with the former Philippine Football Federation and the handlers of the national team. “They didn’t want to play because of their experience before. But when they saw the new direction of the team and how everything was being handled, they came back and worked hard to earn their slots”. Palami says that everybody recognizes how the Younghusbands had to work and prove they deserved the slot, getting a lot of respect from the others.
Nobody was an automatic member, but they did give priority to the Fil-foreign players who played in the first or second division. “It would have been difficult to doubt the quality of skills they had. When they came, you immediately see how advanced they were specially because they had regular training on a high level”.
A lot of Fil-foreign players that wanted to play for the team. “They had to come here on their own and try out. If they made the grade, we reimbursed their travel expenses. There had been four Fil-foreign players that we sent home. There were also some Fil-foreign players from the previous RP teams who weren’t fit so they had to cut them from the team.
“Slots were prioritized for the local players which is why the locals are appreciative of what the management is doing, unlike before. Just because a player was Fil-foreign, they immediately took the locals’ slots. We changed that.”
You have service men and professionals, locals and Fil-foreigners, seasoned and young players, veterans and newbies, men from different walks of life coming together to play as one unit. Chemistry was an issue until a brotherhood system was introduced. “We set up a fining system where players were charged P50.00 for sitting beside people he was already friends with. If you’re an air force guy, you can’t sit with another air force guy. Fil-foreigners also had to sit with the locals. WE just wanted to make them aware of building relationships with others. Naturally, you tend to mingle with someone you can talk to so the effort isn’t there. By the time we were in Vietnam, we didn’t even need to remind the players to interact because they were so used to it already.
“I made efforts to form good camaraderie and we started with the basics”, shared Palami. “If we go out for breakfast, lunch or dinner, we go as a team and we leave as a team. No one gets left behind. Even in the room assignments we made sure that it was an opportunity to build the chemistry. We mixed people together. Even the Younghusbands never bunked together”.
Small things do make a big difference.
Neil or Nil
Neil Etheridge is such an asset to the Azkals. But at any moment, he can be whisked away. According to team manager Dan Palami, they’ve always had an agreement with Fullham that if something happens to their goal keeper, Etheridge would have to go back. “But we’re so grateful to the management of Fullham for releasing Neil to us. The condition we have with them is nothing new. And we’ll abide by it should the need arises. That’s why we’re always praying for the health of their current crop of goal keepers at Fullham.
Super Patriotic
Palami shares that even when the players are not donning their uniforms, they carry the nation’s colors in their hearts with pride. “Some have questioned the presence of the Fil-foreigners but what they don’t see is that they are very patriotic. They’re even more patriotic than most people I meet in the streets”.
You know you can count on these players, and they’ve sacrificed so much. He discloses that players like Etheridge have taken pay cuts and were getting considerably more with their mother ball clubs.
“Everytime we mingle with other countries, you see pride in their eyes. You can feel how proud they are to be Filipinos”.
Funny
Filipino-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong is probably one of the funnier characters in the teams. He loves to perk up his teammates and provide a break from the intense atmosphere by screaming “Mahal Kita” to the ones on the pitch, heavy with his Dutch accent. He doesn’t speak Tagalog but he tries his best, much to the delight of the squad.
30-year-old Rey Johnson who plays in the first division in Iceland doesn’t speak Tagalog either. But he’s fluent in Bisaya and he gets to use it when talking to the other Visayan-speaking members of the team.
Bench Support
Palami is really proud of the attitude of the players on the bench. “They know they might not be able to play but they still maintain a really positive outlook. They’re the first ones to pat the players on the back and give them encouragement. But more than that, they make sure that they continue to work hard so when their number’s called up, they’re ready”.
Earning their Spot
Phil and James Younghusband had a disgruntled relationship with the former Philippine Football Federation and the handlers of the national team. “They didn’t want to play because of their experience before. But when they saw the new direction of the team and how everything was being handled, they came back and worked hard to earn their slots”. Palami says that everybody recognizes how the Younghusbands had to work and prove they deserved the slot, getting a lot of respect from the others.
Nobody was an automatic member, but they did give priority to the Fil-foreign players who played in the first or second division. “It would have been difficult to doubt the quality of skills they had. When they came, you immediately see how advanced they were specially because they had regular training on a high level”.
A lot of Fil-foreign players that wanted to play for the team. “They had to come here on their own and try out. If they made the grade, we reimbursed their travel expenses. There had been four Fil-foreign players that we sent home. There were also some Fil-foreign players from the previous RP teams who weren’t fit so they had to cut them from the team.
“Slots were prioritized for the local players which is why the locals are appreciative of what the management is doing, unlike before. Just because a player was Fil-foreign, they immediately took the locals’ slots. We changed that.”
