Vice Ganda warms up to popular Azkal player via Twitter

By NEIL RAMOS - Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines – Actress Angel Locsin is not the only one keen for an Azkal. Seemingly, popular TV host and comedian Vice Ganda wants one too, in the person of Azkal goalie Neil Etheridge. And the former wants the whole of Twitter-verse to know about it, too.

Vice Ganda made his pursuit of the football hunk obvious with a series of Tweets, June 10 –the day he saw Etheridge at ABS-CBN.

Apparently, Etheridge as with other members of the popular football team who were within the premises of the network giant for a send-off party Friday, just before they leave for Germany for a two-week training as part of their preparations for the June 29 and July 3 World Cup Qualifiers home and away matches against Sri Lanka.

Vice Ganda, who was also at the venue preparing for “Showtime,” saw the group and immediately zeroed in on Etheridge. None too soon, he made contact.

In a tweet he sent to @Neil38Etheridge he said, “hey! ya I saw you on stage. If you’re still here in ABS come pass by our Showtime studio!”

It wasn't known if the two had met prior but Etheridge was casual as he was polite in his reply to @vicegandako.

“I will try find out where that is... I will try [to] pass by; I'm still here at another event... What time will you be there till?”

Vice Ganda quickly tweeted with, “show will start later than usual because of the nba finals so we'll most probably be here till 1ish. Just let me know!”

The move was a success.

Etheridge and his Azkal’s teammates eventually dropped in at the “Showtime” set to squeals and shrieks courtesy of studio audiences, who made as if they're addressing the Chippendales, screaming for the group to take off their shirts but to no avail.

Vice Ganda, meanwhile, was mercilessly teased to no-end by “Showtime” co-hosts Kim Atienza, Vhong Navarro and Anne Curtis. He didn't mind. He looked happy enough. But he made no further overtures on air.

Etheridge was happy as well. The “Showtime” appearance made him a trending topic on Twitter — which amused the Filipino-British football player, going on to thank those who made it happen.

Still via Twitter he said, “Thank you for making me trend.. Much love to you all... Next time maybe I will take it off haha!”

As everyone awaits for a possible showbiz "love story" to evolve between the two, Vice Ganda is having – of all things – a fit of sorts, this courtesy of “Showtime” guest judge, Ryan Bang.

Only a few hours ago he tweeted @ryanbangko, “YOU DON'T INTRUDE WITH SOMEONE ELSE'S ACCOUNT! I HATE YOU!!!”

Earlier, he minced no words scolding the latter via the same platform.

“BAD @ryanbangko! Pinakialaman yung Ipad ko at nagpost sa FanPage ko ng I love my son Ryan Bang forever! Bad bad bad!”

Azkals to hold fund-raising day

Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the Philippine football team take time off from their rigorous training Friday to mingle with their loyal fans in an event also serving as their sendoff party for their World Cup qualifying match against Sri Lanka on June 29.

The event, dubbed as “We Believe” is also a fund-raising campaign that hopes not only to bring the fans closer to the Philippine Azkals, but also generate support for their important outing, Azkals team manager Dan Palami said.

“It’s a way of thanking the fans for their support and at the same time ask support from them for our game against Sri Lanka,” Palami said.

“We want to show that the Azkals’ victory is also the nation’s triumph.” Palami said the event, which will feature concerts and football clinics, hopes to draw more corporate sponsors for the team to sustain its training and preparation for the qualifying tournament for the World Cup.

Last month, he said they will need around P15 million for their preparation, including their training in Germany.

Event organizer Jmar Eduarte said fans can help the Azkals by purchasing Azkals merchandising goods during the event that will start at 4 p.m. at Trinoma. —Francis Santiago

MJC to host baseball tilt

Four champion teams are set to slug it out starting today for the 1st Dominador Pangilinan Youth Baseball Invitational at the San Lazaro Leisure & Business Park in Cavite.

Hosted by the Manila Jockey Club Inc. (MJCI), the four-day tournament will be headlined by the Little Razcals who will represent the country this year in the Protect Our Nation’s Youth (PONY) World Series in the United States.

The three other teams in the single round robin format are the 2010 Metro Schools League champion Marikina Broncos, PONY Asian Championship bound Habagat, and South Asia Nankyu Championship bound Bagwis.

Players from all four teams are 12 years old and below and with the exception of the Marikina Broncos who are a selection of the best baseball players from across the country.

Jins to train in Korea

Looking ahead to next year’s London Olympic Games, members of the Smart Olympic Taekwondo Team will undergo an exclusive training in Korea from June 6-18 in preparation for the world qualification tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 25 to July 4.

The SMART team will be composed of John Paul Lizardo, Marlon Avenido, Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison, Jose Anthony Soriano, Jyra Marie Lizardo, Pauline Louise Lopez, Jade Zafra and Maria Camille Manalo.

“They’re the best among the current crop of Filipino fighters,” noted Philippine Taekwondo Association vice president Sung Chon Hong.

PH London games point man

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has appointed amateur boxing vice-president Manny Lopez as chief of mission to the 2012 London Olympics. Lopez’s naming also coincided with the appointment of two other key officials to the 26th Southeast Asian Games this November in Indonesia.

“London is already asking questions so I have no choice but to make an appointment,” said POC president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco during yesterday’s General Assembly at Wack Wack. The POC likewise designated wushu chief Julian Camacho and tennis secretary general Romeo Magat as deputy chiefs of mission to the Indonesian SEAG as Sim Chi Tat of canoe-kayak kept his position as chief of mission. —Nick Giongco

Petron racing

H3 Autoworks top guns Pepi Santos and Edison Cayco try to seal the win in their respective divisions when the Petron Northern Series-2011 National Drag Racing stages its championship leg on Saturday at the Clark International Speedway.

Santos and Cayco are expected to close out their campaigns on high note in the event sponsored by Petron, supported by Yokohama Philippines, Racing Beat@Wave 89.1 FM, Aeromed, and sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines.

Azkals-Sri Lanka July 3 match tickets sold out

By Earl Victor Rosero GMA NEWS

Some of the reserved bleachers tickets can still go to lucky football fans who want to be at the July 3 2011 World Cup Asian qualifiers match between the Philippine men's national football team or Azkals and Sri Lanka, according to the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) organizing committee Friday.

The fan management committee for the July 3 match said in Facebook posts, fans who are interested in joining the booster squad, nicknamed Kaholeros, may email their names and contact details to kaholeros@yahoo.com. About 200 Kaholeros will have reservations for seats at the white bleachers section.

Tickets for the match were quickly snapped up Friday. Bonnie Ladrido, chairman of the local organizing committee said, "We were caught off-guard. We didn't expect it to happen this fast."

Ladrido explained that the P200 tickets are "practically sold-out" because they had to set aside eight percent of the tickets, roughly 800, for Sri Lanka according to international football rules.

"If some of those Sri Lanka tickets will be freed, they will also be sold to the public," Ladrido said.

As of early Saturday afternoon, some of the pricier P2,000 and P3,000 grandstand tickets can still be had through Ticketworld.

Going, going, gone

The white bleachers tickets were gone within an hour after Ticketworld offered them via its website, at its ticket outlets in a bookstore chain and at other commercial areas. The white bleachers section is directly across the field from the covered grandstand.

Gobbled up next were the P200 tickets and then by mid-afternoon, the grandstand tickets that went for P2,000 and P3,000 were almost all gone.

Ladrido informed GMA News Online late afternoon Friday that "maybe only about 5 to 10 percent of the grandstand tickets are left."

Fans excited about PHL World Cup chances

Some fans, interviewed by GMA News Online while they queued for tickets, gave mixed reactions to the ticket pricing scheme.

Ernest Seña, a 21 year-old former national team junior golfer, said the tickets for the grandstand are "too expensive". He watched the Azkals game in Bacolod last February when all the tickets were priced at a flat rate of P300.

Seña said he had to see the Azkals play again because, "I have been a fan of football, not just the Azkals. This is the first chance since I was born that the Philippines has a chance to advance in the World Cup."

Marie Paat patiently waited in line while the Ticketworld outlet had to reboot its computer terminal as the ticket system coped with the flood of orders. She bought tickets as a birthday gift for her boyfriend, who she says is an Azkals fan.

"I'll be wearing blue because that is what the fans have been asked to wear during the match," Paat said.

Mia Montayre, who participated in a futsal summer camp recently organized by the Ateneo Football League, said the bleachers ticket prices "are fair because they are comparable to the prices for good seats for games of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP)."

Angelo Montibon also lined up for tickets. He plays FIFA on Playstation with some friends. "I'm eager to watch the game live."

PFF explains ticket pricing

In an earlier interview with GMA News Online, Ladrido said they reset to about 13,000 the number of tickets because they "want to avoid overcrowding at the stadium and also avoid over-selling tickets."

Ladrido also said the ticket prices reflect the fact that the PFF is basically shouldering the cost of renovating the stadium facilities "as its contribution to the efforts of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to support all sports in the country." He noted that other athletes and sports organizations also use the stadium.

The organizing committee head also said "Any proceeds left over from the July 3 match will be used to augment the budget for the grassroots, coaching, referee and other programs of the PFF. We also want some funds set aside for if and when lean times come."

Ladrido, who is also PFF treasurer, said the PFF "expects to receive about $300,000 to $500,000 this year from FIFA but $150,000 of that is earmarked for the grassroots program, coach development and training of referees."

The rest of the FIFA assistance will be for the acquisition of sports equipment and subsidies for the seven national teams to help them prepare for local and international competitions.

Stadium renovations

Preparatory work and clean-up of the Rizal stadium bleachers began Friday while the dismantling of the grandstand seats began early this week. "Work will also begin soon on the dressing room, media room and other facilities to make them meet specification of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Meanwhile, organizers said football fans will get to meet the "booster squad" at the Azkals' friendly game with an all-star selection of the LBC United Football League on June 5 at the University of Makati. That Sunday football match is a fundraiser organized by Azkals Team Manager Dan Palami and the UFL. Game tickets go for P100 each. - JVP, GMA News

Tickets for Azkals' home game vs Sri Lanka to go on sale

JVP, GMA News

Tickets for the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers round one between the Philippines and Sri Lanka will be available on Friday, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) announced.

The PFF has teamed up with Ticketworld in the sale and distribution of the tickets. Ticket prices for the July 3 game are P3,000 (VIP Lower Box), P2,000 (VIP Upper Box), P300 (center bleachers) and P200 (side bleachers behind the goal).

PFF tournament chairman and volunteer treasurer Bonnie Ladrido is in charge of the ticket sales.

Sri Lanka (169th in the FIFA world rankings)will host the first leg of the home-and-away series on June 29. The Azkals' home game (July 3) will be played at 3:30 p.m. the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The Azkals' booster group, called the Kaholeros, will be seated at the center bleachers.

The Azkals, currently at 156th in the FIFA rankings, are training at RMSC to familiarize themselves with the pitch. The winner of the Azkals-Sri Lanka home-and-away series will face Kuwait in the next round. – JVP, GMA News

Etheridge takes R&R before training with Azkals

by Barry Viloria, abs-cbnNEWS.com

LAPU-LAPU, Cebu - Azkals goalkeeper Neil Etheridge said he will be on rest and recreation (R&R) before joining his team’s intensive preparations for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka next month.

"My time now will be spent for the next weeks relaxing... I'm enjoying myself for a while," the Filipino-British, who arrived in the Philippines Monday night, told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

Etheridge said he wants to rest his body a bit after having spent the last months in rigorous training with Fulham Football Club in UK.

Aside from being part of the Azkals’ starting lineup, Etheridge also plays as a reserve goalkeeper for Fulham FC.

"I've been training for the last months constantly back in England and here with the Azkals," he said.

The 21-year-old goalie said he will join the Azkals’ intensive training 2 weeks before their away-game against Sri Lanka in Colombo on June 29.

"I will be setting myself up maybe on the second week of June and prepare myself for what comes ahead for this (World Cup qualifiers)," said Etheridge. "I'll keep fit."

The Azkals’ home game against Sri Lanka will take place at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on July 3.

Confident

Etheridge is confident of their chances against Sri Lanka.

"With our set of players, I think I'm comfortable to go through the next rounds," he said.

Etheridge thinks the Sri Lankan booters’ style of play is similar to Bangladesh’s, which was handily defeated by the Azkals in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup group stage last March.

"I think the closest thing we've played to them is Bangladesh, which of course....we beat them quite comfortably," he said.

Despite the victory, Etheridge said he and his team will not take the Sri Lankans lightly.

"Obviously, we've never played a game with them before," he said.

"This is the World Cup. Anything can happen. The World Cup is a competition which everyone takes seriously. I know that we are," the Filipino-British added.

German training camp

The Azkals will be flying to Germany on June 12 for the more serious phase of their preparations.

There, they will play against 6 other teams in a series of friendly games.

From Germany, they will head straight to Colombo in time for the first leg of their qualifier against Sri Lanka.

15 members of Philippine Azkals arrive; set to meet fans on Monday

CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON - Cebu Daily News (Philippines Daily Inquirer)

THEY have been hounded by star-struck fans wherever they go.

But yesterday morning, some 15 members of the Philippine Azkals, the country’s newest sports heartthrobs, managed to avoid the usual pandemonium upon their arrival in Mactan Cebu International Airport, thanks to a standby bus, a separate exit and police escorts.

Arriving with head coach Michael Hans Weiss were Azkals team captain Aly Borromeo, Cebuano Paolo Pascual, Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Roel Gener, Yanti Bersales, William Espinosa, Yanick Tuazon, Ricardo Becite, Edward Sacapano, Christopher Camcam, Nestorio Margarse, James Rochmitz and new member Nathan Burkey.

Anton del Rosario and Neil Etheridge will arrive today while Jason Sabio, Simon Greatwich and James and xPhil Younghusband will arrive this weekend.
Azkals team manager Dan Palami will arrive tomorrow.

Azkals media coordinator Jojie Ronda said the team is here for team building but that they also have other activities including a meet and greet with local fans.

During a brief press conference, Coach Weiss said that he will soon come up with the 23-man list whom he will bring to Germany for training in preparation for their World Cup Qualifier against Sri Lanka in Manila on June 29.

SLIM CHANCE

As for Cebuano-British Chad Gould whose bid to re-join the team was sidelined by an infected mosquito bite, coach Weiss said that they would have to see how fast he recovers but that his chances are very slim after he was advised by his doctor not to play football for two weeks.

Meanwhile, Ronda said having police escorts was not their idea but they were thankful because they were able to avoid heavy traffic on their way to the Grand Convention to attend a lunch hosted by the Cebu Amateur Football Club (CAFC).

“Our bus is big and the roads here are narrow unlike in Manila. If not for those police escorts we would have arrived for lunch at 2 p.m. because of the heavy traffic,” Ronda said.

Jojo Rodriguez, the team’s administration officer, also denied that there is a ban for local media, an issue that came up when the team used a different exit at the airport, unwittingly eluding sports writers.

Writers who followed the Azkals bus were also banned from entering Plantation Bay and were told that only the Sports Unlimited crew will be admitted for an exclusive coverage.

Rodriguez said they had no such arrangement with the hotel.

Ronda explained that the Azkals will be available for interviews anytime except when they are having their team building activities and training.

Azkals’ Manila venue to be upgraded for July 3 match

EARL VICTOR ROSERO, GMA News

This time the Azkals' home match will truly be at home.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has promised that the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium in Manila will be upgraded and ready a week before the World Cup Qualifiers match of the men's national football team or Azkals against Sri Lanka on July 3.

In December last year, the Philippine Men’s National Football Team suffered the embarrassment of not being able to play before a home crowd during its historic semi-finals matches against Indonesia in the 2010 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup season.

Instead the Azkals played in Jakarta twice and lost to Indonesia both times while playing before huge hostile crowds.

The Pana-ad Stadium in Bacolod was not yet international standards-compliant back then.

Two months later in February, Pana-ad was ready for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup home game of the Azkals against Mongolia. The fixed floodlights at Pana-ad were augmented with additional floodlights hoisted on huge cranes.

Stadia regulations of the AFC provide that the venue of a sanctioned match must have a floodlighting system able to maintain a “minimum average of 1200 lux". Lux is the intensity of light shining on a square meter of surface. The AFC also requires that the lights have an independent back-up power supply system that can maintain the needed light intensity “instantaneously and without interruption" in the event of a power failure.

Bonnie Ladrido, head of the local organizing committee, said the PFF will work with ABS-CBN, the local broadcaster of the July 3 game, on the needed lighting for Rizal Stadium. He adds that the broadcaster also has its lighting needs, so the committee opted to wait for their technical plan to avoid duplicating the broadcaster’s efforts.

He revealed that PFF and Philippine Sports Commission officials will inspect Rizal Stadium this week and confer on the progress of the renovation plans.

Last week, the Azkals had their afternoon drills and workouts at the Rizal pitch. At the end of their first session there, team captain Aly Borromeo said in a tweet, “Work to be done on the bleachers but surprised how nice the pitch is!"

Ladrido said the quality of the pitch, or the football field itself, is good, “We have to thank De La Salle University for that." The university, a stone’s throw away from the stadium, has been maintaining the pitch for the part-time use of its students.

As for the bleachers, Ladrido said they will be repainted and marked with seat numbers. All seats at the stadium will have assigned numbers.

The tickets go on sale through Ticketworld starting June 3. Football fans with tickets need not line up hours before the game because Ticketworld’s reservation system will assure them of seats.

The grandstand’s old chairs will be dismantled starting this week. There are also international standards for the seats. AFC stadia regulations provide, “Seats for spectators must be individual, fixed (i.e.. to the floor), separated from one another, shaped, numbered, made of an unbreakable and non-flammable material and have a backrest of a minimum height of 30cm when measured from the seat.“

Ladrido said production of the new fiberglass seats, like the ones in the grandstand of the University of Makati, is 30 percent done and ahead of schedule. About 2,000 of 5,000 of the grandstand seats will have back rests. The PFF will spend about P4.8 million for the new seats.

“Total capacity will be between 16,000 to 18,000 people depending on the final measurements the PFF and PSC using AutoCAD software," Ladrido said.

FIFA hits 107

(FIFA.com)

Today witnesses a special birthday celebration in Zurich as the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) marks its 107th anniversary.

World football's governing body came into being on 21 May 1904, when representatives from France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland signed the foundation act at the Union Francaise de Sports Athletiques headquarters in Paris. Two days later, the first building blocks were put in place with the first-ever FIFA Congress and the election of Frenchman Robert Guerin as the organisation’s inaugural President.

Of course, the years and decades since have seen FIFA blossom beyond recognition, with 1932 bringing about the historic switch from Paris to a new base in Zurich. Further growth and development forced another move in 2006, this time within Zurich, when FIFA relocated from Sonnenberg to its current state-of-the-art headquarters on FIFA Strasse.

Now, having celebrated a landmark year in 2010 with a hugely successful first FIFA World Cup™ on African soil, FIFA is enjoying an equally busy 2011. The next few months alone are set to provide another feast of global events, with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup sure to thrill fans across the globe.