CEBU Football Association president Jonathan Maximo is set to raise the issue of fan support and the move of an independent foundation to put up a domestic league in the country in the next Philippine Football Federation board of governors meeting on Saturday.

Football fans have come up with a name, Askals, for the national team and are planning to reproduce shirts with a logo for those who will watch the 23rd Southeast Asian Games this November in Bacolod.

“I will ask how much support the PFF will give for the fans in the Seag,” Maximo said.

Maximo is also planning to organize a Cebu delegation of fans who will travel together during the Seag.

As for the national league, a Manila-based foundation has contacted the PFF about their plan to put up a football school and the Paulino Alcantara Cup next year.

“This is a very nice concept,” Maximo said, “I will ask the PFF of their stand.”

However, a source with the foundation said that the response from the PFF has not been encouraging.

“Beside this, the PFF has given no sign of life yet and doesn’t seem to be very interested, since it already took a week for them to reply. I understand they are busy with current projects and with the national team, but it disappoints me that the PFF is not assertive enough to give the impression of working on development in football in the Philippines,” the source’s e-mail said.

Aside from the two issues, among the agenda are preparations for the Seag and tournaments next year.

Ricky with his modified Barca jersey

AT the start of the 20th Century, his grand father ruled Spanish football, en route to a legendary career at FC Barcelona, now 21-year-old Ricardo Alcantara Paredes wants to continue the legacy for the Philippine national team almost a full century later.

“I’m 21 and currently living in the United States but I was born in Quezon City,” Paredes said in an email to Sunstar Cebu, “I have lineage to Paulino Alcantara but my Lolo does not remember, either he is my great grandfather’s brother or first cousin,”

According to, Manuel Tomás Belenguer, head of the documentation division of FC Barcelona, Alcantara is considered as one of the legendary players of Barcelona for scoring 356 goals in 357 games.

The reply was sent to a query made by former Cebu based football coach, Graeme Mackinnon who forwarded it to Sunstar. Mackinnon is leading a drive to have Alcantara recognized in his home soil, a drive which the US based descendants of Alcantara are also supporting.

“To make things more interesting I have been meeting with other Alcantara family I have not met but are related to me trying to dig up answers”, Paredes wrote, “I’m awaiting to get in contact with his main family in Barcelona”

The other info Belenguer provided on Alcantara, born in Ilo-ilo on Oct 7 1896 to a Spanish father, were also impressive.

“In 1920, Spain selected him for the Olympic team, but he turned down the offer because of his medical studies. Since school was his priority, he only represented Spain in international football competition five times. He scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Belgium in his first international match at the age of 25. He also played for the Philippine National Team. Alcántara is on record as being the first player from Barcelona born outside of Europe to represent Spain in international football competition. In 1922, during the game France-Spain, he shot so hard to goal that the ball perforated the net. Since then he was known as “break nets”, ” read Belenguer’s email.

Alcantara retired on July 5 1927 with impressive records having won five Spanish Cup Championships in championships (1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926) and 10 Catalonia championships (1913, 1916, 1919, 1920. 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927).

A painting by known Spanish painter Josep Segrelles of Alcantara is also on the FC Barcelona Museum.
Despite this achievements, Alcantara is largely ignored in his own country and by playing on the national team, the younger Paredes wants to bring honor to their name once again.

“I feel as it is my duty like i am the chosen one to get his name in his honor for the Philippines! and the best way to do that is to play for the Philippine National Squad.” Paredes said.

Paredes has recently communicated with national coach Aries Caslib of his plans to try out for the team next year

This Half spanish half Pinoy is the record holder for the most goals scored in FC Barcelona, Paulino Alcantara, 356 goals in 357 games.

It’s not a brazilian, nor a spaniard who holds the record.

He is a kababayan, and he is ignored in his own country.

Two of my favorites things, a beer and marlboro

ang akong amigong si opaw

IT SEEMS the football calendar of Filipino fans won’t end with the 23rd Southeast Asian Games as a group is set to launch a series of promotional spiels to culminate with a domestic league next year.

A Manila-based foundation is launching a program that will put up a football school and a national league next year. Sun.Star Cebu learned of the move in a football forum and a source of the foundation agreed to give details provided that no names be used since they are still processing paperwork.

The first phase of the plan includes a promo tour by groups of Filipino and foreign players, which will be hosted by a popular artist around Metro Manila in December to start awareness of the football school and the league.

They will also hire artists to host the tour, which will last two to three months and will showcase the basic and technical skills of players to a broader audience.

Local teams and football associations will also be contacted and the group will conduct on-site inspection to gauge the teams’ level of play, whether they are fit for amateur or semi-pro status.

The league will be launched after the World Cup 2006 when football awareness in basketball-crazy Philippines is at its peak.

“During the league continuous promotion will be made made in newspapers, television, etc. Depending on the success of the league a football academy will be founded in Metro Manila, combining education and football in one school,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the group plans to the call the cup the Paulino Alcantara Cup in honor of the late Barcelona leading goal scorer.

Alcantara was born in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, Philippines and is honored in Barcelona for scoring 395 career goals. He is ignored in his own country, however.

Marian with superfriends

A Festival and a futsal event will be some of the new changes when the 9th Aboitiz Cup kicks off on August 28 and 29.

“The sponsors wanted the opening to be grand and festive so we decided to hold a festival for the age groups on the opening day,” Cebu Football Association president Jonathan Maximo said.

The Players 6 and the P 8 will play on the opening day while the players 8 -12 will play on the second day according to Maximo, who met with the coaches and players Tuesday night.

The venue is still to be decided between the University of San Carlos Technological Center, Sacred Heart School Jesuit field in Ayala and the San Roque field in Mandaue.

“It’s also the thrust of the Philippine Football Federation to hold a festival type for the grass roots level,” Maximo said.

For the opening festival, Maximo also plans to invite teams from the Visayas and in Mindanao to join.

“We are planning to hold a festival every month or every two months, depending on the sponsors,” he said.

Aside from the festival, CebuFA will also introduce girls football in the high school division and a futsal tournament.

“Hopefully there will be a strong response for the girls because next year there will be a national Under 19 and Under 17 girls championships,” he said.

On the other hand, the futsal tourney will determine the Cebu’s representative to the national finals in Laguna this December.

Last year, Team Hiroshi earned the right to represent Cebu after winning a local tournament.

“We are also thinking of introducing the 35 and above age group but that will still be discussed because some want it to be 38 and above,” Maximo said.

Marian through the pipe

Covering four sports events in a day turns you into this

Or this

Marian and King with Alpha

Marian feeling comfortable at Baseline Restaurant

Me supersized

Sona and Marian, flanking The Freeman’s lady photojournalist, Iste Sesante

hehehehe

Sona and Marian, they like to exclude me from the photos

CEBUANO football fans have long drooled over the manicured greens of Pana-ad Stadium while dejected at the sad state of the Cebu City Sports Center field, wondering when Cebu will finally have a decent place to play the world’s No.1 sport.

Things are sure to turn around with the planned construction of a football stadium at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City.

“We have a plan to put up a football field,” said USC vice president for finance Fr. Vic Uy. “Around that we will also have a rubberized oval.”

The field, which will be behind their new nursing and pharmacy building, will comply with international standards set by Fifa, the sport’s global body.

“We found out that there is a minimum and maximum size for international play; ours will be in between.”

Aside from the pitch and the eight-track oval, Uy said that they will put up a grandstand to seat the fans, while one portion of the stadium will be converted into a hill.

“I based it on the one I saw in Australia. The grandstand will not cover all the field, rather one will be sort of a hill, where the fans can sit on the grass or have a picnic while they watch the games,” said Uy, the Team Cebu City chaplain during the Arafura Games in Australia last May.

Uy said they plan to start construction as soon as the master plan, which is still being evaluated by their architect, is finished.

The construction of the field could also make USC one of only a few schools in the country to own an international-size pitch and a rubberized oval.

“We will open it to the public, it wont be exclusive for the school,” he said.

AUSTRALIAN football guru Graeme Mackinnon lauded Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Jonathan Guardo’s moved to support the Cebu Center for Football Excellence.

Despite his return to his homeland two years ago, Mackinnon, who molded the Carmen National School boys into national stalwarts, has continued to monitor Cebu football regularly through contacts and the internet.

“I’m really pleased to read your article today that Jonathon Guardo will recommend that the CCSC support the move to establish the Cebu CFE. It was also pleasing to read that Jonathon has suggested that a team representing Cebu made up of players from the CFE could go to the International Children’s Games in Bangkok next year,” Mackinnon said in an e-mail to Sun.Star Cebu.

The Cebu CFE is one of 15 centers nationwide tasked to train a select group of kids who will be in the national team 10 years from now. The country aims to win its first gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in 2015.

The Cebu CFE will be under the tutelage of Mario Ceniza, Mackinnon’s former player in the M. Lhuillier team that won the national title in the late 80s and his right hand man in molding the Carmen National School squad.

“I have spoken to Mario privately since he came back from Bago, and he is very excited about the CFE and the impact it could have on football in the future. As we have discussed previously, the future of football is in the youth and this idea, although not new, is a step in the right direction,” Mackinnon wrote.

Mackinnon added that the CFE would recreate the Coca-Cola Training Centers, which helped discover a lot of talents in the past.

“When German coach Bernard Zgoll was in charge of Philippine football, he set up the Coca- Cola Training Centers. Unfortunately, with his demise from coaching came the demise of the Centers. Now there is yet another opportunity to begin a grassroots program that aims at the highest honor of representing the Philippines on the international stage,” said Mackinnon.

“I know Mario will give the players who go there his undoubted coaching experience and technical support. It is good that the Cebu City Sports Commission will back him up.”