Post by rpbenchwarmer on May 27, 2011 16:10:12 GMT 8
Villaflor: Are the Little Azkals ready?
By Noel S. Villaflor
Footnote
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
OR six weeks, some two dozen boys under 13 years old have been training in a secluded campus some 25 kilometers from Cebu City.
At the Don Bosco Boys Home, they would sleep as a team, take their meals as a team, and have nothing on their minds but football. They would train on the football field twice a day: from 6 to 8 in the morning, and from 4 to six in the evening.
Next Tuesday, 22 of the 24 trainees will fly to Sabah, Malaysia for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-13 Festival of Football from June 1 to 6.
Dubbed the Little Azkals, the team, a selection of the country’s finest young players, will go up against Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and Myanmar.
Cebuano Oliver “Bingbing” Colina, an AFC “B”-licensed coach, is responsible for molding the team into a competitive unit in such a short period. He has two assistants from Manila: Noel Marcaida, the goalkeeping coach with a “B” license, and Eliezar Fabroada, who carries a “C” license.
Before the training camp, Colina had travelled to several provinces outside of Cebu to scout for players, using AFC standard technical guidelines for team selection. The young coach had been preparing for the Sabah tournament as early as June last year, after handling the Under-14 national team that saw action also in Malaysia.
Some of the players training for the current squad were scouted during the Under-13 festival in San Carlos City last month, as well as during the Palarong Pambansa in Dapitan, which had overlapped with the training camp, causing a few logistical hitches.
In choosing the final line-up of 22 players, Colina has the final say, following an assessment and consultation with his assistant coaches.
Last Thursday, I drove all the way to Liloan to watch the team practice. There I saw the kind of skill every young player ought to aspire for.
But are the players’ skills good enough to make a decent showing against the strong national teams in the upcoming tournament?
“This team has a good chance in Malaysia,” said Colina after the training match when I asked him of the team’s chances. I distinctly remember he didn’t express the same confidence last year with his U-14 national team, which unexpectedly performed well.
“I’m confident with the team’s fitness and form,” he said, but was quick to add that they’d taper off carefully with the training to avoid a burnout.
The squad earlier beat the Central Visayas team, 5-2, and last week split its training matches against the Magis Eagles U-14 and U-17 teams. The first eleven beat the younger team, 1-0, while the second eleven lost the other match, 2-0.
Colina pointed out, however, that despite the loss, the U-13 squad dominated their much older opponents in terms of possession, eventually losing only because of the size difference.
Yesterday, the squad went up against the U-13 Don Bosco squad reinforced with U-16 players at the Aboitiz football field in Subangdaku, Mandaue City. The nationals won, 4-0. In the first half, the first 11 scored two goals courtesy of Jayvee Borlongan of Cagayan de Oro.
Borlongan’s first goal was a well-placed long-range shot from outside the box, while the second saw him beating three defenders and the goalie.
The second eleven added two more goals in the second half, both from Javier Romero Salas of Davao. The first goal came inside the box, off a perfectly laid ball from diminutive striker Lorenzo Genco that Salas calmly slotted past the goalkeeper. The second was a converted penalty kick, following a foul on Genco.
Genco, a Cebuano training in a football academy in Italy, himself nearly netted two goals with his instinctive positioning: a chipped shot over the goalie that flew just a tad too high and a mean header off a cross that struck the bar.
Though visibly pleased, Colina cited several areas the team needs to improve as they wrap up training.
“We will work on our possession, team shape and team blocking,” the coach said.
Colina will leave for Malaysia this Saturday. His team, with the final lineup probably known by now, will follow suit three days later.
Link: www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2011/05/25/villaflor-are-little-azkals-ready-157554
By Noel S. Villaflor
Footnote
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
OR six weeks, some two dozen boys under 13 years old have been training in a secluded campus some 25 kilometers from Cebu City.
At the Don Bosco Boys Home, they would sleep as a team, take their meals as a team, and have nothing on their minds but football. They would train on the football field twice a day: from 6 to 8 in the morning, and from 4 to six in the evening.
Next Tuesday, 22 of the 24 trainees will fly to Sabah, Malaysia for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-13 Festival of Football from June 1 to 6.
Dubbed the Little Azkals, the team, a selection of the country’s finest young players, will go up against Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and Myanmar.
Cebuano Oliver “Bingbing” Colina, an AFC “B”-licensed coach, is responsible for molding the team into a competitive unit in such a short period. He has two assistants from Manila: Noel Marcaida, the goalkeeping coach with a “B” license, and Eliezar Fabroada, who carries a “C” license.
Before the training camp, Colina had travelled to several provinces outside of Cebu to scout for players, using AFC standard technical guidelines for team selection. The young coach had been preparing for the Sabah tournament as early as June last year, after handling the Under-14 national team that saw action also in Malaysia.
Some of the players training for the current squad were scouted during the Under-13 festival in San Carlos City last month, as well as during the Palarong Pambansa in Dapitan, which had overlapped with the training camp, causing a few logistical hitches.
In choosing the final line-up of 22 players, Colina has the final say, following an assessment and consultation with his assistant coaches.
Last Thursday, I drove all the way to Liloan to watch the team practice. There I saw the kind of skill every young player ought to aspire for.
But are the players’ skills good enough to make a decent showing against the strong national teams in the upcoming tournament?
“This team has a good chance in Malaysia,” said Colina after the training match when I asked him of the team’s chances. I distinctly remember he didn’t express the same confidence last year with his U-14 national team, which unexpectedly performed well.
“I’m confident with the team’s fitness and form,” he said, but was quick to add that they’d taper off carefully with the training to avoid a burnout.
The squad earlier beat the Central Visayas team, 5-2, and last week split its training matches against the Magis Eagles U-14 and U-17 teams. The first eleven beat the younger team, 1-0, while the second eleven lost the other match, 2-0.
Colina pointed out, however, that despite the loss, the U-13 squad dominated their much older opponents in terms of possession, eventually losing only because of the size difference.
Yesterday, the squad went up against the U-13 Don Bosco squad reinforced with U-16 players at the Aboitiz football field in Subangdaku, Mandaue City. The nationals won, 4-0. In the first half, the first 11 scored two goals courtesy of Jayvee Borlongan of Cagayan de Oro.
Borlongan’s first goal was a well-placed long-range shot from outside the box, while the second saw him beating three defenders and the goalie.
The second eleven added two more goals in the second half, both from Javier Romero Salas of Davao. The first goal came inside the box, off a perfectly laid ball from diminutive striker Lorenzo Genco that Salas calmly slotted past the goalkeeper. The second was a converted penalty kick, following a foul on Genco.
Genco, a Cebuano training in a football academy in Italy, himself nearly netted two goals with his instinctive positioning: a chipped shot over the goalie that flew just a tad too high and a mean header off a cross that struck the bar.
Though visibly pleased, Colina cited several areas the team needs to improve as they wrap up training.
“We will work on our possession, team shape and team blocking,” the coach said.
Colina will leave for Malaysia this Saturday. His team, with the final lineup probably known by now, will follow suit three days later.
Link: www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2011/05/25/villaflor-are-little-azkals-ready-157554