Australian coaches make mark as Philippines football goes professional - Jason Dasey Jason Dasey and Stanley Bernard look at the rapid rise of Philippines football success, domestically and internationally. Philippines boasts Southeast Asia's highest FIFA ranking, and has two of its clubs on the verge of an Asian final. But, perhaps more significantly, the country's first professional league began earlier this month, with the bold plan of taking the sport to entertainment-starved regional centres. The 2017 Philippines Football League (PFL) kicked off on May 6, with Australians Gary Phillips and Ian Gillan in charge of the two newest and most remote teams. Phillips, a former Australia youth international who coached Negeri Sembilan and Sabah in Malaysia, is guiding the hopes of Davao Aguilas, who play near the southern city where Rodrigo Duterte was Mayor before becoming Philippines President. Gillan, a former Perth Glory and Kedah assistant boss, is based 400 kilometres north of Manila at Ilocos United, who were set up by Filipino-Australian businessman Jarred Kelly and Sydney-based Englishman Tony Lazaro. Both Phillips and Gillan saw Asia's fledgling league -- the eight-team competition is the same size as the original A-League of 2005 -- go from zero to full operation within a matter of weeks. "I responded to a Facebook message about a coaching job, and 24 hours later we had agreed on terms and I was on a plane -- sign of the times, I guess," 53-year-old Phillips, who coached Sydney Olympic to the 2002 Australian title, told ESPN FC. Gary Phillips joined expansion team Davao Aquilas before the start of the 2017 PFL season. "The owner [Jeff Cheng] holds a major share in Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League, and has a very good reputation. This is an opportunity to leave my fingerprint on a new franchise, and hopefully create a legacy of opportunity for young players in the state of Mindanao." Scottish-born Gillan, 52, worked under ex-Socceroo David Mitchell at reigning Malaysia Cup champions Kedah and Perth Glory, but this is his first experience as a professional head coach. "We were the eighth and final team to be accepted into the league, and had the least time to prepare... just five weeks to recruit players, staff and put administration processes and procedures in place on a very low budget," Gillan said. "But what attracted me to Ilocos United was the opportunity to work off a clean canvas. It's an exciting challenge." Despite sharing hosting rights with Myanmar, Philippines surprisingly missed out on the knockout stages of last December's AFF Suzuki Cup. Even so, they remain ASEAN's top nation on the FIFA list at 127th, two spots above regional heavyweights, Thailand. And going into next week's second-leg semifinals of the AFC Cup ASEAN zone, Ceres-Negros and Global-Cebu FC would fancy their chances of prevailing over Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim and Home United, of Singapore. Philippines striker Misagh Bahadoran With players like national striker Misagh Bahadoran, Global FC have performed well in the AFC Cup. Both clubs are based outside of basketball-obsessed Manila where the greatest opportunities for football could lie, according to R. Sasikumar, executive chairman of Red Card Global, which holds the PFL's commercial and broadcast rights. "The old United Football League was based mostly around Manila, but we want to take the game to the provinces with the PFL," ex-Singapore international defender Sasikumar told ESPN FC. "We believe there's massive potential in those areas where they've been starved of professional sports and general entertainment." For Phillips, playing games in Davao has seen enthusiastic crowds of more than 5,000 cheering his team. But without adequate training facilities in the area, Davao Aguilas are still based in Manila, more than 1,500 kilometres away. "Davao is full of passion and pride, but facilities are being upgraded, so we need to fly in and out for games, followed by a two-hour bus ride to the north of Davao where the stadium is," Phillips said. "When you play Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, there's no real time to work on football problems because it's mostly recovery focused. But the best fans in the country do help to ease the fatigue of the players." At the top of the PFL standings are Meralco Manila, powered by brothers Phil and James Younghusband, the English-born former Chelsea juniors who remain the best-known footballers in the country. The nucleus of the Philippines national team, coached by ex-United States captain Thomas Dooley, comes from foreign-raised players, schooled in European academies, with Filipino heritage. While the likes of Meralco, Ceres and Global attract the big names from the national squad, expansion teams like Davao Aguilas and Ilocas United have to make do with less. "Our players are possibly discarded from clubs, unhappy or wanting a change," Gillan said. "We have signed many young players and have a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old in the squad. It amazes me how this all works here, compared to the massive budgets experienced elsewhere." Not surprisingly, it has been a bumpy start to the season for the new boys, who are still looking for their first wins after a couple of matches. The two teams at opposite ends of the country, separated by a journey of up to 15 hours, drew 1-1 in opening week on May 7. "We are new to each other so it will take time, but we have seen a lot of improvement and are already competitive," said Phillips, who has also coached in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga. "My target here is like anywhere else -- just to win the next game."
Cardiff City complete double signing of Neil Etheridge and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing “We haven’t had a big goalkeeper, and this lad is 6”2,” said manager Warnock. “He’s always come out on top when we’re talking about goalkeepers and we’re delighted that he’s agreed to sign from 1st July. “He’s looking forward to the challenge ahead and trying to establish himself as the number one ‘keeper. He’s at a very good age and will be a very good addition to the squad.” www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/cardiff-city-complete-double-signing-13114030
FULL-TIME | Ceres-Negros FC are through to the #AFCCup2017 ASEAN Zone Final on the away goals rule after their tie against JOHOR Southern Tigers ends 4-4 on aggregate They will face Singapore's Home United in the ASEAN Zone finals.
Pelefan, do you know how to get the Tajikistan vs Philippines match? Is there a Filipino site that will be streaming it?
There has been no news on whether this game will be telecast yet. I will post it here when I found out. I don't expect too much from this game anyways since there are too many players missing including their starting goaltender Neil Etheridge who is starting his career at Championship team Cardiff City this upcoming season and wanted to avoid injury. I expect the team to adopt a defensive strategy for this away game.
Defensive? From Dooley? No chance! They didn't even play defensive against China, what more against Tajikistan?
Well that is what the situation calls for so that is what I expect in this away game. After what happened in China, I hope Dooley makes the proper adjustments.
Top German football club Bayern Munich joined the chorus of greeters for the Philippines' Independence Day, posting a graphic featuring its players with the Philippine flag. The club has some links to the Philippines, with star left back David Alaba having Filipino lineage. - See more at: www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/football/614168/german-football-club-bayern-munich-greets-phl-on-independence-day/story/#sthash.9auMe3AN.dpuf
I actually agree that the situation calls for it but that doesn't mean it's gonna happen, not under Dooley! So don't expect it especially after his latest comments ahead of the match. There were a lot of big games where a defensive approach was needed yet Dooley stuck to his usual tactics which didn't really pay off.
Outside of Etheridge, who else is missing? Seems like a pretty big game, it would be embarrassing if the Philippines miss the next Asian Cup. Nepal is an easy draw but the Philippines were unlucky getting Yemen and Tajikistan in their group. Both teams could end up ahead of them if they don't take these games seriously. Btw, what happened in that friendly against China? 8-1? I was expecting it to be much more competitive. China hasn't been doing that well in WCQ and they couldn't even score against Hong Kong in two games during the last round.
A lot of their European trained defensive mainstays have retired and some of their replacements have not yet committed to the Philippine national team at the moment especially in the case of Danish Superliga starter Jesper Nyholm who is still awaiting a callup to the Danish national team. That is why it was questionable for Coach Dooley to field an offensive formation against China with so many questions on defence, and with starting goalkeeper Etheridge not available. His personnel decisions have also been head scratching with mainstays like Schrock, Rota and de Murga missing all of whom could help on defence if necessary. He could also have swallowed his pride and asked Muller to come out of retirement(since he is still active in the PFL) to play goalie for the national team while Etheridge is not available. It looks like Minegishi, Christiaens and Bahadoran might be out due to injury as well. Because of the late start(started in late May) of the inaugural season of the Philippines Football League and their subsequent compressed schedule, the national team has also had very little time to train together for this match.
You can watch it on youtube. There's a channel showing it live. I consider Schrock their best player when I've watched them play based on how he can hold on to the ball and doesn't turn it over. So if he isn't always playing something is wrong with Dooley.
Close but exciting game. Good result for an away game. Sorry but was too busy at work to watch the game. comments I have read on the game: 1st opposition goal was due to a questionable penalty given to a flopping Tajikistan player. 2nd & 3rd goals conceded were absolute gifts by our defense.
First, "head scratching" is putting it very mildly! It's not just his lack of call-ups, but it's also the ones he actually calls up and from there, it's his match day selections. Compressed schedule? I don't know what schedule you've been looking at, but there's nothing compressed about it so far! It's very standard. In fact they've been quite lenient with the AFC Cup teams. They never played a weekend fixture ahead of their Cup games. FIFA Window for June only started on the 5th. So the amount of time to prepare for Tajikistan is again standard! It only looks like they haven't prepared because of the sh!t that went down against China. Both the result and the schedule of the game.
The Azkals turned on the firepower to claim a vital road win in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Tuesday night, June 13. The 4-3 goalfest featured two goals from Javier Patiño, and one apiece from Phil Younghusband and Daisuke Sato. The 3 points keep the Philippines atop Group F in AFC Asian Cup qualifying with a maximum 6 points from 2 games. Coach Thomas Dooley made 3 changes to the side that was walloped 8-1 by China last week. Dennis Villanueva came in for Luke Woodland at center back, Javi Patiño took Misagh Bahadoran's spot in attack and Kevin Ingreso slotted in at holding midfield in place of James Younghusband who suffered a knee sprain against China. The Philippines thought they had gone ahead in the 23rd minute when Mike Ott found the back of the net. But the large crowd at the Republican Central Stadium in the Tajik capital were relieved to see the referee nullify the goal for offside, despite replays showing that Ott seemed to be onside. Ott was booked for dissent on the play. Two minutes later Philippines keeper Pat Deyto made a fine reaction save to keep the game scoreless. But two minutes before the half-hour the Philippines broke the ice. Patiño won a foul outside the penalty box and that led to Phil Younghusband's magnificent opener, a free kick that curved over the wall and had enough power to beat Tajik goalie Abduaziz Makhkamov. Four minutes from the halftime whistle the Pinoys doubled their lead after Mike Ott slithered in a neat through-ball to Patiño who finished clinically. The match looked over 3 minutes into the second half when the younger Ott, (Manny Ott, Mike's brother, also started), fed Patiño again with another perfectly-weighted delivery. The Fil-Spaniard rounded the keeper and tucked the ball into the goal for 3-0. But that setback seemed to awaken the home side and 5 minutes later they were rewarded with a penalty when Jahongir Aliev collapsed rather easily in the box on a light tap from Amani Aguinaldo. Parvizjon Umarbaev blasted past Deyto on the ensuing penalty for 3-1. The partisan crowd erupted just 4 minutes later when a Junior Muñoz error lead to a Tajikistan jailbreak that Dilshod Vosiev completed with a fine finish for 3-2. Seven minutes later Patiño came agonizingly close to a hat trick but his attempt to poke in a lovely Iain Ramsay cross glanced wide. Two minutes later Tajikistan nearly leveled when Davronjon Ergashev hit the far post on a free kick. But 11 minutes from time Daisuke Sato delivered a righteous left-footed strike from the flank that restored the two-goal cushion for the Philippines. A gritty Tajik team got a third from Manucher Dzhalilov off a breakaway in the 89th to set up a nervy stoppage time period. But the Azkals held on for the win. Coupled with Yemen's surprising 0-0 standoff against Nepal in Kathmandu earlier on Tuesday, the Philippines are in command of Group F with 6 points, 3 clear of the Yemenis. Nepal is on one point and Tajikistan, who lost to Yemen in the first matchday, are without a point. The result helps ease the pain from the team's heavy defeat to China last week and gives the side momentum heading to their next qualifier against Yemen in Panaad Stadium in Bacolod on September 5. http://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/football/172877-azkals-escape-victory-tajikistan Their defence again proved vulnerable, but they scored enough goals to compensate. They are only 2 points ahead of the Yemenis, not 3.
Players missing for this game. Etheridge, Steuble, Schröck, Porteria, Palla, Rota, Reichelt, J Younghusband, Minegishi, Christiaens, Bahadoran
BTW, an error on my part. Centerback Jesper Nyholm is Fil Swedish and is under consideration for the Swedish national team, so he hasn't committed yet to the Azkals. He is interested in playing for the Philippines, but only if he doesn't get called up by Sweden. I was thinking of a different player when I made the reference to Denmark.
Daisuke Sato on Wednesday New chapter. New adventure. Big season ahead. Can't wait for the new season to start. Thankful for all my friends,family,supporters .Without them, this life wouldn't be the same! #DaisukeSato #Japan #Philippines #Azkals #PinoyPride #Denmark #ACHorsens #Superligaen #Noregrets #Lifeisonce #Keepdreamin #Enjoythelife After a year with Politehnica Iasi, Daisuke Sato has moved from Eastern Europe up north into Scandinavia, jumping from one top-flight side to another by going to Denmark's Horsens on a free transfer It will be a new challenge for the Azkals standout, who played 25 times for the Romanian outfit before inking a deal that will tie him to the Yellow Danger until 2020. Horsens placed tenth in the most recent season of the Superliga before surviving a complicated relegation battle, in which they sent Jerry Lucena's former club Esbjerg to the Danish 1st Division in the second round of the playoffs. Sato will become the third Azkal to ply his trade in Denmark, after Lucena and Dennis Cagara. www.dugout.ph/2017/06/azkals-sato-signs-for-danish-club.html He will be our only player in a top tier league in Europe.