Azkals beat Mongolia's Blue Wolves, 2-0, in first leg of AFC Challenge Cup playoff

Posted by Jaemark Tordecilla on February 10, 2011 at 15:04 | Comments (8)

By now everyone knows about the Philippine national men’s football team’s big 2-0 win last night in the first leg of its home-and-away AFC Challenge Cup playoff versus Mongolia. The Azkals totally outclassed their opponents last night, completely controlling the match from start to finish.

The thousands in attendance at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City and the millions of Filipinos on Twitter went bonkers after Chieffy Caligdong, the team’s resident jester, knocked in a sensational goal at the 45-minute mark.

But given the talent disparity between the teams and the home field advantageof the Azkals, it would have a minor disappointment had the game ended with a mere 1-0 win for the Philipines. That’s how it looked like it was going to end, until Phil Younghusband scored in injury time, to the delight of thousands of his fans. I believe my tweet last night, and the reaction to it, summed it up:

Younghusband goal drops panties

That 600 or so people retweeted it only tells part of the story; several hundreds more retweeted it the old fashioned way (RT, via), with more than a few even adding their two cents to the quip. You wouldn’t believe how many people sent replies telling me that their bras also snapped, that their panties were also wet, and that their briefs also dropped.

This takes me back to one installment of my back-and-forth with Pacific Rims author Rafe Bartholomew last year, where I argued that the reason basketball became much more popular than football in the Philippines because girls would rather watch games at indoor stadiums instead of outdoor soccer fields:

After reading my review of Pacific Rims, award-winning journalist Roel Landingin told me about a conversation he had with a local corporate bigwig about Philippine basketball fanaticism. The bigwig had been heavily involved in college basketball back in the ‘50s, and he told Roel that he and his buddies gravitated to basketball because it was the only sport that could draw the interest of colegiala cheerleaders at the time. The young lasses weren’t so keen about going out onto the soccer field to do a cheer routine, because of that endemic Filipino fear of getting a tan. The basketball game played indoors at the gymnasium, of course, served as protection from that fate.

Having read your book, where you struggled to find out why “the beautiful game" didn’t take the Philippines by storm, this explanation made perfect sense to me. In fact, it still makes perfect sense today because, as you point out in the book, the biggest basketball games are social events as much as they are athletic competitions. This is true at every level, whether the teams are playing in the finals of the UAAP, or the Congressman Manhik Manaog inter-barangay invitational cup.

The lovely coeds from Ateneo and La Salle troop to the Araneta Coliseum, where they’re protected from the midday sun. Meanwhile, inter-barangay championships are usually played at night, allowing the neighborhood cuties to come out, see, and be seen.

Rafe wouldn’t buy it. Well, now that chicks dig the mestizo-heavy Azkals, we’re suddenly a football-crazy nation. Coincidence?

Comments (8) | Trackbacks (3)
Tags: Azkals, the Philippine national men's football team, Basketball, Football, Rafe Bartholomew, Video

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Weblog: topsy.com
Tracked: Feb 11, 13:48

What’s next for the Azkals
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Comments

#1 nobody on 2011-02-10 16:31 (Reply)

Rafe wouldn't buy your analysis not because there is no merit in it but maybe because it's sexist. C'mon Jae, "chicks digging meztizo azkals" or "panties dropping" passing off as cultural analysis or worse humor? In the book All Things Shining, authors (Dreyfuss & Kelly) argued that sports events are among the remaining things that are sacred to us in this cynical day and age. When James Yap makes a buzzer beater or Younghusband scores a goal in injury time, for that brief moment, we are all equal and all of us are in agreement, no matter what side you are cheering, of that moment of excellence. That is why folks tend to be drawn towards a particular sport event, to look forward to experiencing those moments whether they are a casual fan, a fanatic or as you put it, a chick digging a meztizo.

#1.1 jaemark on 2011-02-10 17:00 (Reply)

Fair enough. But I suppose my much larger point is that for a sport, or a sporting event, to move beyond its niche and become part of the mainstream zeitgeist, it has to capture the imagination of people who wouldn't otherwise care much about it. So while there is that wonderful sense of community that's fostered by the success of the Azkals, there's a fair amount of fans -- the ones who wouldn't otherwise care -- who are there because the guys are good-looking. There was a much bigger reaction to Younghusband's goal last night than Caligdong's, even though the latter was a much more sensational athletic play.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. If you read my exchange with Rafe, and his reply, in full, I was arguing the importance of the female fans to the popularity of sports in the Philippines, and I was telling him that he could've talked about how important they are in his book. They're some of the most passionate, knowledgeable fans around. And some of them wouldn't mind telling you how their panties drop when their favorites make something wonderful happen on the court or on the pitch.

#1.1.1 nobody on 2011-02-10 17:53 (Reply)

Don't get me wrong Jaemark, I agree with your main point about "the importance of the female fans to the popularity of sports in the Philippines." What I am not so enthused about is labeling a certain segment of them as just mestizo-digging-chicks. I apologize for dragging you down into some kind of rhetorical debate but there is a danger to those kinds of labels. Case in point is the "bakya crowd" which smacks of elitism. Your article's bigger and more important point might be missed and start this painful cycle of treating a certain group with contempt and disdain and derision. My point is at the end of the day, regardless of our motivations for going to a stadium, be it good looking guys or passion for the game, we watch and enjoy the game all the same.

#2 Sinigang Tampines on 2011-02-10 18:06 (Reply)

on females... most passionate? perhaps. knowledgeable? that's arguable especially with a sport that's fairly new to the Filipino public. ask them why #9 of Mongolia got sent off, what's an offside flag, and why some plays continue even after a foul... they wouldn't know unless they've played some football themselves.

and how come no one's panties (or polka dot boxers) dropped when Caligdong scored? the skill which produced that goal was as if watching Kim Kardashian getting banged. it gave followers of "joga bonito" a big boner after the flick and volley between the keeper's legs was the... nevermind. haha. goals like that, you'd only see guys like Lionel Messi do.

what wasn't pretty was hearing all these basketball-like jargons in a football match. it was so out of place, i feel ABS-CBN does not have anyone in their Sports division who knows the game at all. even TJ Manotoc tweeting overly abused the word "rebound" even in situations when it wasn't a second-chance effort. gotta wonder if he has relationship problems or whatever.

from someone who has been following both football and basketball, just watching ABS-CBN's coverage suggests that Rafe is right. you can't take away the basketball mentality from Filipinos. from the commentary, the camera work, the editing, and even the timing of commercials (the missed the start of the 2nd half)... this was a football match being done as if it was a basketball game.

#3 castor on 2011-02-10 19:50 (Reply)

lets face it. the only reason football is as big as it is now is because of the fil-euro pretty boys. the 90's pba fil-am invasion alienated the fans while today we go gaga over the younghusbands, et al.
damn u dorian pena!

#3.1 gilazkalz on 2011-02-12 23:06 (Reply)

Castor I don't agree to the comparison of PBA fil-am invasion to the fil-fors of azkals..It is coincidence lang na mga half-brits and mixed breed tisoy ang roster ng Philippine Azkals..Let us accept the fact na hindi na hype ito and football popularity will stay here for long even win or lose...Abangan natin more homegrown talents from soccer will rise and the propose local premier league.
Can you imagine every end of the game may fireworks display and fiesta ang atmosphere...Ang mga pinoy likas na mahilig sa fiesta and fireworks celebration..Pagnagkaroon ng national soccer league every pinoy will be rooting on their respective region...Unlike PBA na purely commercial league kapag nag champion ang team dun lang may celebration..eh sa football game pag-ikaw ang host at nanalo kayo kahit hindi pa qualifying parang championship ang victory celebration..
When Gilas settled for second place last dubai cup parang walang impact but when Azkals lost both leg to Indonesia and Pacquaio suffered defeat to Morales during their fist match ay nagcelebrate pa rin tayo.
The problems are the attitude of hoops players compare to footy players na mas mannered and less thrash talkers. that's why football today captures the heart of million filipinos.
The basketball mentality are concentrated only to the males from luzon but in visayas and mindanao they embrace the beautiful game of soccer.
If we talk about bakya crowd it will be divided into provinces of vizmin na football lover and jejemon crowd of metro manila na solid fans ng ginebra and smc teams...Pag sa out of town games sa Panabo lang malakas ang PBA.
The number of female fans are the biggest compare to males kung sa 90 million population natin ang pagbabasehan..kaya wag nating i underestimate ang womens population rooting for football.
only in metro manila lang ang solid hoops lover and walang space for football pitch..Except na lang sa Cebu na both love basketball and football.
The middle class of metro manila,yupees,masses from vismin,and the rest of female fans nationwide are instant football lover.

#4 Jeff Tagle on 2011-02-11 17:36 (Reply)

my only beef, PFF oversold tickets. 18,000 people in a stadium built for 10,000. and a lot of people were also stuck outside who paid for tickets.

hmmmm...

#4.1 kevin on 2011-04-04 15:05 (Reply)

the PFF sold 10k free tickets to those who live near the stadia..tsaka 20 ang capacity ng Panaad, 18k seats+2k standing