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Post by cjeagle on Oct 28, 2011 0:33:26 GMT 8
Beckham, Galaxy test Azkals Dec. 3 By Cedelf P. Tupas Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:52 pm | Thursday, October 27th, 2011 33 share79 46 MANILA, Philippines—In A year replete of milestones, chalk one more for Philippine football. The Los Angeles Galaxy, a high-profile Major League Soccer team bannered by one of the biggest names in the sport—David Beckham—is coming over to Manila to battle the Philippine Azkals in an exhibition match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 with Beckham, United States captain Landon Donovan, Ireland international striker Robbie Keane and Brazilian midfielder Juninho all suiting up for the Galaxy against the country’s own stars led by Chieffy Caligdong and Phil and James Younghusband. LA Galaxy president Thomas Payne and event promoter Jinx Macabenta jointly announced the staging of the match Thursday during a press conference at the Makati Shangri-la, where they were joined by Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta and Azkals manager Dan Palami. “The Philippines has shown a lot of passion for the sport and we see the country as a growing football market,” said Payne. “This (match) can only be good for the sport here.” Payne added: “We understand what this is about. We understand that we have popular players and they will be on Tour.” The Galaxy, who are arriving on Dec. 1, will also hold a clinic for select children of Bantay Bata 163 at 2 to 4 p.m. on Dec. 2 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. “We’re not just coming into the market and leave immediately,” said Payne. “What’s important to us is we give back and that’s what the clinic is all about. David Beckham is probably one of the most famous athletes who handles children really well.” Araneta hailed the Galaxy’s visit, which marks the first time a high-profile team will play in the country since Brazilian first division squad Cruzeiro, bannered by legends Tostao and Revillinho, came to play at Rizal Memorial in the 1970s. “Of course it is a big match to end the year playing the LA Galaxy,” said Araneta, whose organization will be providing logistical, manpower and technical support for the staging of the match. “What more can you ask for for Philippine football.” Palami said he has gotten in touch with the country’s Europe-based players to check their availability, but so far, only Iceland-based defender Ray Jonsson has confirmed his stint for the match. The Azkals, who will miss skipper Aly Borromeo because of injury, are also recalling Paul Mulders, Dennis Cagara, Jerry Lucena, Rob Gier and Stephan Schrock to play against the Galaxy. The date of the match, however, does not fall on a Fifa international date, which meant teams are not inclined to release the players for the game. Nevertheless, Palami expressed delight at the prospect of playing the Galaxy, considering that exactly a year ago, the Azkals were toiling in Laos just to make the Suzuki Cup main tournament. The date of the match itself falls on the same week last year when the Azkals stunned Vietnam, 2-0, and sparked their resurgence. “It’s an early Christmas bonus to have a chance to play a team with the profile of LA Galaxy,” said Palami. “It’s a great opportunity for the Azkals and Philippine football in general as it is in its growing stage. We will take blessings as they come.” Macabenta, a marketing executive based in Daly City, California, said they have been planning the match the past five months and have been in constant contact with Galaxy officials. “This is a historic event and we’re just happy to help make it happen,” said Macabenta. He said the ticket details for the match will be released on the first week of November. Payne expressed satisfaction at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, which he described as “wonderful.” “It was wonderful, more than we expected. The stadium is great, its a smaller venue which would make fans closer to the players,” said Payne. sports.inquirer.net/22093/beckham-galaxy-test-azkals-dec-3
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 28, 2011 0:41:33 GMT 8
I hope that PFF is having a contract to pay less if if David Beckham is not coming , he could have a new club before Dec 3 RT @cedelfpt: David Beckham is under contract with LA Galaxy until Dec 31 this year. He will be a player for the Galaxy on Dec 3 when they play vs Azkals
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Post by jonny on Oct 28, 2011 0:53:02 GMT 8
I hope that PFF is having a contract to pay less if if David Beckham is not coming , he could have a new club before Dec 3 RT @cedelfpt: David Beckham is under contract with LA Galaxy until Dec 31 this year. He will be a player for the Galaxy on Dec 3 when they play vs Azkals Players with contracts are bought and sold every day..
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Post by jonny on Oct 28, 2011 1:10:26 GMT 8
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Post by jpmanahan on Oct 28, 2011 3:18:52 GMT 8
it is important to note that this was not announced during the press conference.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 28, 2011 4:02:31 GMT 8
I got this from an Indo post in another forum:
"In other news, two days ago, Tom Payne was in Jakarta to inspect the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in preparation for LA galaxy vs IPL selection. but if David Beckham is not coming to Jakarta then LA galaxy tour in Jakarta will be canceled according to the news."
It looks like the Indos are using an All Star Indonesian Premier League selection although I am not sure if the are going to include the imports or just local Indos. Beckham has to show up in order for the friendly to go through so I think they will be bringing him throughout the tour as I presume the Aussies have a similar clause.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 28, 2011 5:09:50 GMT 8
LA Galaxy test Azkals BY BONG PEDRALVEZ PHILIPPINE football reaches another historic milestone when the LA Galaxy, bannered by English football star David Beckham, play the Azkals on Dec. 3 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. "We’ve heard about the rising popularity of football in your country so have decided to visit here as part of our three-nation tour after the Major League Soccer season is over," LA Galaxy team owner Thomas Payne announced yesterday in a press conference held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City Fresh from arriving early in the morning from the US, Payne inspected the Rizal Stadium pitch and noted, "It was more than I expected." Joining him in the briefing was Fil-American Jigs Macabenta, whose marketing arm Fuelcels Inc. laid the groundwork for the friendly, PFF president Mariano Araneta Jr. and national team manager Dan Palami, who was put in charge of the big football match. "We would like to thank Mr. Payne for considering the Philippines as part of the LA Galaxy’s Asian Tour," Araneta said. "We thought that the 4-0 win against Nepal would wrap up our football season, but it now seems we have something bigger to offer." "This is, indeed, a historic match. We were blessed with the win against Nepal, but now we have a bonus," said Palami. Payne virtually guaranteed that the LA Galaxy, who advanced to the MLS playoff against the New York Red Bulls, will be playing with a full deck led by the Beckham, top American striker Landon Donovan and recent acquisition, Irish national Roy Keane, his country’s most capped and top goal producer. Palami said the visitors would be going up against the Azkals, with the exception of injured captain Aly Borromeo. "I already have commitments from our European-based players like Ray Jonsson, Jerry Lucena, Dennis Cagara, Stefan Schrock and even Neil Etheridge, who said he would not miss the game to face the Beckham-led Galaxy," Palami said. "This is a rare opportunity for us to face a top caliber side like the Galaxy," he added. "It promises to be an interesting match." Payne, in the country for the first time, said he was impressed by the initial response to reports that his squad would be coming to Manila. "My staff back home told me last week that it had become a hot Twitter topic, and judging from what I see here, I can understand why," he said. He added that aside from the Philippines, the Galaxy would also have stops in either Singapore or Indonesia and Melbourne, "where the development of football is very similar to what is happening in the US." Araneta recalled that the last time a big commercial club visited the Philippines was way back in the 70s when Brazilian Cruzeiro, led by the legendary Tostao, played an exhibition match with the Nationals. "But this match with the Galaxy will definitely have a bigger impact on local football," he said. Macabenta said they would start issuing tickets for the groundbreaking friendly by early November. www.malaya.com.ph/oct28/sports3.html
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Post by stellarboy on Oct 28, 2011 13:14:07 GMT 8
I'm already wonder what the starting XI of LA Galaxy would be during this friendly, and what would be ours.
I already assume our team will field mostly local-based players, sans Aly Borromeo, and if we're lucky enough to release a few key Euro players (Etheridge, Lucena, Cagara), we could beef up the defense just fine.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 28, 2011 14:50:49 GMT 8
Just wanted to mention in regards to the smaller stadium in Manila, that the LA Galaxy are used to playing to small capacity crowds in away games in Major League Soccer. In general soccer specific stadiums in the US tend to have less than 20,000 seat capacity. Teams have been known to even play part of a season in stadiums smaller than Rizal while awaiting construction of their real stadiums. Also there have been many instances in the past in locales where football is not very popular, where the crowd that showed up were less than 10,000. In the big capacity American football stadiums, a crowd that small makes for a depressing atmosphere. In Rizal, even with a capacity of less than 15,000, the crowd is loud and very vocal and in the intimate setting, makes for a lively and fun atmosphere.
The only drawback is that there will not be enough seats for everyone, and the tickets will probably be sky high, to makeup for the cost of bringing the LA Galaxy to Manila, but other than that, it should be a fun game for everyone including the visiting team as well.
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Post by stellarboy on Oct 28, 2011 18:59:51 GMT 8
An opinion piece from another forum (by "HRK1"):www.azkals.com/topic/azkals-to-play-la-galaxy-in-december I hope this is a start of top quality clubs playing friendlies against the PHI team...it may be small but it may lead to bigger things.
Example: Before the J-League (1992). The Japanese football team was one of the struggling teams in Asia. Baseball have always been the favourite team sport in Japan. Just like PHI, Americans imposed their "colonialism" in PHI through basketball, education system, TV, radio, media etc. Americans imposed their colonialism in Japan (post WWII) through baseball - which is a substitute to Bushido (ie Samurais uses swords...Baseball replaced that with baseball bats....instead of using bushido code / samurai swords on people, might as well teach japanese to hold a baseball bat and hit a ball - much safer).
Prior to 1992, I remember Japan used to play friendlies against South American clubs (ie Penarol) and European clubs (Bayern Munich). But with a good economy that can easily establish a good football foundation, Japan was able to climb from nowhere and be #1 in Asia (displacing Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE) and becoming a serious football team at AFC and FIFA comps.
Another Example is Australia. Throughout the 80's, the NSL was a semi-pro soccer league. Top Australian soccer players of the time play in Belguim or Denmark. At the time, the socceroos were never considered a strong soccer team. They too, used to play friendlies with European Team: AC Milan, Gotheburg FC.
But in the mid-90's, players started playing in the Bundesliga (ie Ned Zelic), Seria A (ie Grella, Bresciano, Farina), EPL (Kewell, Viduka, Bosnich, Scwarzer, Moore, Emerton, Slater etc)...the team started to improve (even though World Cup was still a struggle)...then the NSL was scrapped, replaced by A-League, they moved to the AFC - now they are considered as Japan's main rival in AFC.
So, playing clubs may help PHI football. Progress also rely on other factors. Lets wait and see.
My opinion on this: If we compare our situation to Japan, our unstable economy and endemic corruption will be huge roadblocks in forming an established and very stable football league system. That said, the governing bodies of the PFF must not be moved with the alleged corrupt practices that plagued the PSC and the committee of Congress that handles it. Monetary grants from FIFA, DFB and the others, together with contributions from Real Madrid and other interested parties for grassroots development, must not be put in vain by corrupt officials. Compared to Australia, our today's UFL is like their NSL of the 80's and even the J-League of '92. Things were starting to form out, some rough ends were still being treated, and nothing was left out in the dark. Good local players were still being found, and infrastructure is still being built. But what may contribute our football more significantly is that our key players from the national team already come from top-of-the-line football leagues (EPL, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Danish Superliga, among others). That might mean that if ever our foreign-based players decide to settle in the Philippines 5 to 10 years from now (or even sooner) to play or coach, or at least have a clinic, in local clubs, then our football system will reach even greater heights. Our local players will get noticed and be invited to play in established leagues in Asia, then to the Americas and in Europe. Playing against established clubs in nations with established football/soccer leagues will definitely improve the situations of football in our country. Being the most improved nation based on ELO rankings is not a joke for me; this should inspire us to move forward even further.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 29, 2011 7:19:58 GMT 8
Official announcement on the LA Galaxy Website: LA Galaxy to travel to the Philippines as part of the Asia Pacific tour 2011 Friendly in Manila added to tour that concludes in Melbourne on Dec. 6 OCTOBER 28, 2011 LA Galaxy Communications LAGalaxy.com 14 CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has added a game in the Philippines to their Asia Pacific Tour 2011. The Galaxy will face the Philippines National Team at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Saturday, December 3. Following the game in Manila, the Galaxy will head to Australia where they will conclude their tour against Melbourne Victory of the Hyundai A-League in the Jeep Melbourne Challenge. Formally announced last month, that game will be played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Tuesday, December 6. Local broadcast information for the entire tour will be announced at a future date. This will be the Galaxy’s fourth trip to Asia, though it is their first since 2008. In nine all-time games in Asia, the Galaxy are 2-3-4, including a 1-0-2 record during the club’s preseason Asia Tour 2008 in which they played in Korea, China and Hong Kong. The Galaxy previously visited Australia in 2007 and 2010, losing both friendlies that they played there. Herbalife, a global nutrition company and the Galaxy’s official presenting sponsor, will serve as an official sponsor for both games. For more information about this game, please call 1-877-3-GALAXY or visit the club’s official website at www.lagalaxy.com. www.lagalaxy.com/news/2011/10/la-galaxy-travel-philippines-part-asia-pacific-tour-2011
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Post by mike fil montz on Oct 29, 2011 12:02:57 GMT 8
i'll rather spend my hard earned money for a PHI vs IRAN match.... if ever though..
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Post by stellarboy on Oct 29, 2011 12:43:30 GMT 8
Aside from David Beckham, Landon Donovan is the other player to watch out for. Landon Timothy Donovan currently holds the record for most goals and assists for U.S. National Football Team. Landon was already destined for greatness. In his first competitive game playing against older players, he scored seven (7) goals! At age 17, he was already in the US football training pool. He went to Germany bringing with him his potential, and signed up for Bayern Leverkusen, but his time there was a disappointment for his young career. He was sent back to the US, in MLS on loan to the San Jose Earthquakes. He became an instant hit and went on to score 32 goals in his two year stint with the American club. In 2005, he was traded to L.A. Galaxy, and still playing for them up to this time. He also had loan spells, Bayern Munich in Germany, and Everton in the English Premier League. His purpose was to continue his form. It would take a long time for another American to match or do better Landon Donovan’s achievements. Jozy Altidore and Freddie Adu are out of the question. www.soccerly.com/landon-donovan/(From "Azkals" of azkals.com forums) www.azkals.com/topic/azkals-to-play-la-galaxy-in-december
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Post by melbmike on Oct 29, 2011 13:03:05 GMT 8
2 games within 3 days of each other involving a 7+ hour flight.
I think we don't see the starters for very long.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 29, 2011 13:40:25 GMT 8
ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sportsaholic/la-galaxy-vs-azkals-dec-3-125859472.htmlA very long article about the the game, pretty much a rehash of everything mentioned before with a few nice comments included. "I think it's gonna be wonderful," Payne said. "Part of what we do on these tours is we're trying to help promote the sport that I'm passionate about and what David's passionate about, and going into a market like this, which is going football-crazy from what I understand, and the coach and the federation is having a good run of it. So I think putting on a game that brings that kind of PR and media to an event like this can only be good for the sport."
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