While the Azkals are in the midst of their quest to make it to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, at least one other Philippine football team already made it to Rio de Janeiro ahead of them: the Homeless World Cup Team Philippines.



I wrote about the team, which won the Host Cup in the 2010 Homeless World Cup in Brazil, for the anniversary issue of UNO Magazine, with the lovely Iya Villania on the cover. I profiled the team’s coach Rudy del Rosario, who led the UP men’s football team to the UAAP title as a 17-year-old freshman in 1986, and two stalwarts of the 2010 Rio team: brothers Mark and Lexter Maravilla. Mark now serves as Coach Rudy’s assistant for the 2011 team set to compete in Paris, France, while Lexter has been signed up as a defender for Kaya FC, where he shares the field with Azkals Anton del Rosario and Aly Borromeo.

The 2011 team is now in full preparation for the Paris competition, and we should have more updates on the team for you at InterAksyon.



Meanwhile, apart from my article, the latest issue of UNO also features loads of goodies, including pictures of Iya and a gallery of eight previous cover girls. So bili na kayo!

Today’s actually my first day at the new office. I’d spent the last month or so transitioning stuff at the PCIJ while doing editing work after hours for InterAksyon.com, which explains the lack of updates here in the blog. We’re working on a nice new version of the sports site, so I’ll probably still be busy, but once that is done and things settle down, I will: 1) be writing a lot more stuff for the TV5 site; and 2) I’ll still be posting regularly on Fire Quinito. You can hold me to that promise.

For now, check out our wall-to-wall coverage on InterAksyon.com on the Azkals. I’m proud of our output, by the way, and I’d put it up against the work of any other media outlet that also covered the series against Sri Lanka. I filed three stories yesterday:

- Weiss: Bigger challenges ahead for the Azkals
- What's next for the Azkals: Mighty Kuwait
- Azkals destroy Sri Lanka to advance in World Cup qualifier

Ryan Fenix, whom you might know from his previous contributions on this blog, has been doing excellent analysis for InterAksyon as well. We’ll be posting his analysis on last night’s big win later today.

The Philippine men’s national football team encountered surprisingly tough opposition, but managed to salvage a 1-1 result in the first game of its World Cup qualifying tie against Sri Lanka at the Sugathadasa Stadium Wednesday in Colombo.

Nate Burkey tied the game for the Azkals with a header at the 50th minute, a follow-up to James Younghusband’s own header off a curling free kick by Chieffy Caligdong. The goal by Burkey, who came in at the 20th minute after Phil Younghusband injured his hamstring, prevented what would have been a massive upset for Sri Lanka.

Read on at InterAksyon.com

It’s our favorite naturalized Filipino (by a Marcos presidential decree) from Sri Lanka himself, Ronnie Nathanielsz!

I can’t really make a comment on ABS-CBN’s choice itself (considering I’ll soon be technically working for a television network too), although I’m sure you guys must just be thrilled.

Ever dream about busting a move with Azkals heartthrobs James and Phil Younghusband right before the big match? Or maybe you want to hear Chieffy Caligdong and Ian Araneta’s sweet Hiligaynon accent? Or perhaps you just want to stalk goalkeeper Neil Etheridge as he’s coming out of the showers?

Continue reading "Here’s your chance to hang out with the Azkals at their World Cup qualifier"

Season 74 of the UAAP tips off in a couple of months, and once again all the attention and resources will be on the men’s basketball tournament. But while alumni boosters and sponsors literally pour in hundreds of millions of pesos into college basketball in the country, athletes from other sports have had to settle for scraps.

These include, unfortunately, the University of the Philippines Men’s Football Team, which was crowned champion of the UAAP football tournament in Season 73. I came across this letter on Facebook asking for help in order to supplement the team’s meager resources:

Continue reading "The UP Men’s Football Team needs help"

This blog turns two years old today, so let me take this opportunity to celebrate this blog’s modest achievements.

Over the past couple of years, the level of discourse about sports in this country has deepened and broadened, and I’m proud to say that Fire Quinito has had a little to do with that, even though the posts here aren’t always polite or in good taste.

Continue reading "FQ turns two"

And I wrote a couple of pieces in it too! Again, this gives you an excuse to buy the magazine with the hot chick on the cover, by saying you’re only buying it for the sports articles.

Continue reading "Rogue Magazine’s sports issue out now"

Here’s some news that should be of interest to all local sports fans: Last week, MediaQuest, the PLDT subsidiary that controls TV5, signed a deal with IBC-13 to air sports programs in the government-controlled network. A new primetime block called AKTV featuring sporting events will soon air on the channel.

In exchange for block time, Media Quest will improve the signal of the channel and upgrade network facilities nationwide.

The move comes as the latest part of MediaQuest’s aggressive expansion strategy, which saw the company pouring in P7 billion into TV5 in 2010 alone. In October, the network launched an all-news FM radio station, while its 24-hour news channel Aksyon TV went on air on UHF television last February.

Continue reading "TV5 signs block time agreement to air sports programming over IBC 13"