P31 million needed for international, SEAG campaigns

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine football would need P31 million to fund its campaign for the whole year as they gear up for various international tournaments, including the ongoing AFC Challenge Cup, the World Cup eliminations and the Southeast Asian Games.

_{(Podcast: Members of the Azkals team and Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta address questions from the STAR sports staff during their visit yesterday to the newspaper's editorial office in Port Area, Manila.)}

“I’ve talked with the PFF (Philippine Football Federation) officials and we would need P31 million to bankroll our team for this year’s campaign alone,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami during the Azkals visit to The STAR at its Port Area offices yesterday.

“It’s expensive but it’s worth it,” said Palami, whose team is in the thick of preparations for their second AFC Challenge Cup game against the Blue Wolves of Mongolia on March 5 in Ulan Bator.

Palami has also set his sights on the 26th Southeast Asian Games slated Nov. 11-25 in Jakarta, Indonesia where he and the Azkals hope to deliver the country its first ever medal in the biennial meet.

“We’ve discussed our chances in the SEA Games and we feel winning a medal is realizable,” said Palami.

Accompanying Palami to The STAR were PFF president Nonong Araneta and chairman Johnny Romualdez, Azkals team captain Aly Borromeo and mainstays Roel Gener, Nestor Margarse and Ricardo Bacite.

The Philippines, which opted not to field a team in the last two SEAG editions in Thailand and Laos, is eyeing its best finish in the SEAG since winding up fourth with a big win over powerhouse Malaysia in the 1991 Manila Games.

But the SEAG task will be tough since the Azkals could only retain six players from the same team that made it to the semifinals of the Suzuki Cup and the squad that beat Mongolia, 2-0, in the opener of their AFC Challenge Cup qualifier series in Bacolod two weeks ago based on the meet’s 23-years-old-and-under rule.

This means only goalie Neil Etheridge, who is playing for British club Fulham, Simon Greatwich and Jason de Jong are among the six who will get to see action in Jakarta.

But Araneta pointed out that they would fill in the void by holding a regional Under-23 meet this summer featuring the best and rising players in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“With this tournament, we’ll get the chance to scout who really deserve to make it the team and I’m pretty confident we could form a strong team capable of meeting expectations,” said Araneta, whose PFF recently received P101 million financial support from Smart and Air21 in the next 10 years.

Romualdez, a former PFF president, was quick to say that the Azkals and the Filipino fans should temper their expectations because he knows the SEAG competition will be strong particularly from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“As much as I want to be as optimistic I have to warn you that the opposition is going to be tougher,” said Romualdez.  Footage by Cris Cayanan