A Cebuano among Azkals
By Mars G. Alison
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:01:00 02/04/2011
Filed Under: Football, Sport
CEBU CITY, Philippines?Soccer fans in Cebu are excited: A Cebuano has just become a certified Azkal.
Paolo Pascual, 20, is in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental as part of the 30-man Philippine team that will face Mongolia in the first leg of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup 2012 qualifiers on Feb. 9.
Pascual left Manila on Jan. 26 after he made it to the final cut of 11 out of the 50 hopefuls who tried out for the team at the football field of the University of Makati. But he was not in the official lineup since it was already submitted to the AFC in early January.
The Azkals coach may change the list after the first leg. The new one will likely include Pascual, who will have a chance to see action against Mongolia in the 2nd leg of the Challenge Cup qualifiers in March.
The Cebuano said he didn?t think twice about trying out for the team after the Azkals reached the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup, crushing defending champion Vietnam along the way. His inclusion to the national team was a fitting gift for his birthday on Jan. 22.
Waiting for tryout results
Pascual recalled that he had been waiting for the results of the tryout and didn?t even pay attention to an offer to join for Global FC under the APC Global Inc., which plays in premier football leagues in the Philippines.
He just wants to be an Azkal.
?I can?t wait for that list, but any decision made will be good for me because I know I did my best,? Pascual said.
Now that he?s a certified Azkal, he couldn?t contain his excitement.
His parents, Dr. Joel Pascual and Dr. Chona Pascual, influenced him to get into sports at a young age. ?My dad, being such an athletic person, and my mom who always supported me,? he said.
Football was also the first sport he was offered in Paref Springdale, where he completed his elementary and secondary education.
Pascual said his grandfather, Jose, ?loves soccer as much as I do.? Jose used to play soccer in Mindanao.
But it was in Springdale where Pascual?s skills as a goalkeeper were honed by his coach, Mario Ceniza. He said he didn?t start out as a goalkeeper because he had wanted to be a striker.
?As a child, I hated saving the ball. I would always want to run and kick the ball to the goal,? he said.
But Ceniza advised him to try his hand at being a goalkeeper. Now, Pascual credits him as one of the most important persons who made him a better footballer.
?As a young boy, Paolo was on the chubby side. And being taller than his teammates, I saw his potential of being a goalkeeper so I made the suggestion,? Ceniza said.
He also noticed the player?s ?very stringent work ethics? and determination.
National team
It was not a surprise that the 5?11? goalkeeper had long caught the attention of the national team coaches before his January tryout.
He had been called twice last year to try out for the national team, but he failed to do so because of school obligations. The first time was when the Azkals prepared for the Interport Cup in Taiwan and the second was in late last year when he was asked to join the Philippine team?s training camp for the Suzuki Cup.
Pascual was part of the Springdale team that represented Cebu City twice in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association meet. He was also a member of the team that represented Central Visayas four times in the Palarong Pambansa.
He was the starting goalkeeper of the varsity football team of University of San Carlos where he is a junior student of business administration.
Even before he was named into the Bacolod training pool, Pascual was already asked to stay and train for the World Cup 2014 qualifier in June and the U23 Southeast Asian Games in November in Indonesia.
Old article but worth reading
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