My Soccer Story, Part 1

The latest achievement by the Philippine “Azkals” Men’s Team in the recent AFF Suzuki Cup held in Hanoi, Vietnam is perhaps the highest performance by any Philippine national soccer team in international competition. Fortunately, it made front page headlines, media commentaries and exposure, the kind of recognition it truly deserves but sadly not felt in the past. Except somewhere in the “land of my birth” which considers soccer, not basketball, as its national past time. No wonder, it is called, the hotbed of soccer where many national team players, past and present, come from. It is therefore, not just a coincidence that this victorious national team has in its line-up 7 players from Barotac Nuevo.

I come from a small town in Anilao, some 10kms. away from Barotac Nuevo, in Iloilo province, considered as the soccer capital of the Philippines. In many ways, by proximity, friends, relatives, trade, business, etc, Barotac is also our hometown. And being so, I kicked balls before I entered grade school just like the other kids in this town, and long, long before I could shoot basket balls. I remember in our youth and perhaps until now, a purok or barrio could

field a complete team on certain age groups. Different sections in every grade level would play each other as complete teams. Talk of grass root development.

In high school, we would play soccer in our Sportsfest along and against future Mr. Football of the Philippines. Varsity teams of major soccer-loving universities in Iloilo City would be composed mainly of Barotacnons with the rest coming from two other soccer loving places, namely the town of Sta. Barbara and La Paz district. Major teams like the Philippine Army, Navy, Air Force and UAAP school teams are dominated by players from Barotac. Having been exposed to the game early on, I know the game and its technicalities, recognize skills, strategy, etc., something many would not appreciate especially when they see a low scoring scoring 2-1 game and a 0-0 draw game. I can differentiate the playing style of defense oriented European teams like Italy against the free flowing go go game (which I like) of South American teams exemplified by Brazil and Argentina. I grew up idolizing Pele, Tostao, Falcao, Socrates, to Romario, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, among other Brazilian greats, Franz Beckenbauer of Germany, Gordon Banks to David Beckham of England, and many many more. They are to me, soccer’s equivalent to Chamberlain, Russel, Bird, Majic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and other NBA greats. The European soccer leagues featuring Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc. of England, Real Madrid and Barcelona FC of Spain share equal if not more of my TV viewing time with LA Lakers, Miami Heat, Orlando Majic, Boston Celtics, etc.

Because I love and understand soccer, I could feel the passion of the whole world about it; a passion I’m not sure if it could be rubbed off on to basketball loving Filipinos.