KENNETH PORIO | the blog

This is a series of posts about the curious case of attractive Filipino athletes in the international scene. Part 1 discusses football and basketball.  James and Phil Younghusband, modern sports celebrities of Asia. Admit it. We Filipinos have the best-looking athletes in Asia . We seem so blessed with talented people who happened to be raised with a foreign parentage on either side (father or mother), grown up somewhere else (particularly in Europe), and speak a different language other than those we used to speak. Lately, with the emergence of the Philippine national football team , fondly called the Azkals , it seemed there was a sudden boom of athletic talent and national pride that is topped with a certain sex appeal no sport pundit ever expected. Our country was soon littered with sport stars-slash-sex symbols . In RJ Ledesma's recent column on the Philippine Star , where he interviewed Loyola Meralco Sparks and national team striker Phil Younghusband (right of ab...

A hundred years on, his face still binds in the consciousness of Barcelona, and now lives in the new generation of Pinoy football players and fanatics. Twenty-six years ago, the Filipino people united together in EDSA to peacefully put an end to a regime that has put the Philippines in chains for three decades. But there was an event that was long ignored by Filipinos in the sporting world. A hundred years ago, a Filipino made an impact to the nation as the youngest player to debut in one of the world's most prestigious football clubs. His name: Paulino Alcántara . On February 25, 1912, at the age of 15 years, 4 months and 18 days, the Filipino-Spanish mestizo , capped his first game for F.C. Barcelona, one of the world's most famous, most wealthy, most influential and most revered football clubs, that currently boasts the likes of Lionel Messi of Argentina and Cesc Fàbregas of Spain. At a tender age, the Ilonggo-native not only capped for the team, but also score...

Wonder why everytime these men flock together, fans flock together as well? Blame social media. (credits to jonny ) On that night on December 5, 2010 , when the few Filipino football fans who have watched the Philippine national football team win against the national team of Vietnam, the then-defending Suzuki Cup champions, they logged-in to Facebook and Twitter and passed the good news of victory around the Internet. Minutes later, the national team’s well-known and well-loved monicker, the “ Azkals ,” became a trending topic on social media, and Google searches of almost every player of the national team surged. People started to get interested with the men who became a new source of Pinoy pride. A year on, the Azkals and the sport of football became one of the most talked-about topics in the Philippines today. It’s all because of the Internet . Since the 2010 Suzuki Cup, anything related to the Azkals and Philippine football trends in social media regularly. Why do I cr...

Many Filipinos wondered why the Philippine national football team, fondly called the Azkals , had to have these good-looking, highly skillful men. Many question why these mixed-breed players should be there. Why the need? Improve the style of play? Definitely. Make the Philippine team win games? Surely. Raise consciousness of football in the country? Yes! But... make shrieking, swooning female fans? I'm not sure of that one, but it's strange but true . In this world called football ( soccer to some), there are the poster boys that would grace the conscious and the unconscious minds of football fans, whether they play the sport or not, support the national team or not or root for one club or not at all. These men have all the skills plus the looks that attract them. And the Filipino diaspora is lucky enough to produce offspring with traits that only heaven could buy to get it off. Traits that are inherent of the mixture of different genetic makeups of different races. Trai...

This is Part 4 of a series of posts about the men behind the rise of the Azkals. You are encouraged to read Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3 of this series.  Next on Hans Michael Weiss ’s assignments was the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers. The qualifiers were done for the first time since 2002, wherein the nation was one of a very few that did not enter to qualify for the 2006 and 2010 editions. And during those attempts to qualify for the event in the past, the national team only got stuck in the first round, losing with big margins to Asian neighbours. But with an even deeper lineup made by the man, Dan Palami, the coach was sure for his team to, at least, break the record to get to the second round. Many of the Filipinos have wanted to see their team making it to the main 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil. But he was pragmatic to say that it’s too early to say the Azkals would be there. He knows the team has potential, but it would take a very long time to see the results. ...

This is Part 3 of a series of posts about the men behind the rise of the Azkals. You are encouraged to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. As Englishman Simon McMenemy left his post as coach of the Philippine national football team, the Azkals, a German came to the scene. And upon his arrival, many of the football enthusiasts were curious on whom he is and what can he do to bring his new wards to greater heights. He was part of an aid package by the German Football Federation (DFB) to the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) which includes some equipment, training camps, coaching courses, and an undisclosed financial grant, allegedly amounting to around €500,000. Therefore, the PFF did nothing to get this coach and all these perks into the team; it was because the PFF did something for the DFB to send these to help the Philippine team. And that man is named Hans Michael Weiß. (Yes, it should be spelled that way. But since many of our Pinoy readers don...