Friday, January 25, 2013

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on January 26, 2013.

AKTV: Mark DimalantaU

United Football League squad Kaya FC has dropped from its lineup former Philippine national men’s football team skipper Aly Borromeo for the upcoming League competition.

Borromeo, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury two years ago, is still unfit to make his return for the team, according to Kaya FC coach Maor Rozen.

“Unfortunately he cannot play right now. He is still in his recovery process,” Rozen told InterAKTV. “He is very intelligent. He understood the situation.”

Rozen, who was hired late last year after the resignation of former Kaya FC coach Kale Alvarez, said that Borromeo is a huge loss for the squad, which will also see the absence of veterans Lexton Moy, Armand del Rosario, Jason Sabio and Adrien Semblat.

“Aly Borromeo is one of the most important players in the history of Philippine football. His experience is very important especially for our young players,” Rozen said. “The problem is he cannot play. Right now, he has to check again his knee.”

Borromeo will still attend practices with the team to help him get healthy in the future, Rozen added.

A veteran of the national team, Borromeo tore his ACL in 2011 during a UFL match with Kaya FC. He then made his return on May last year, but did not see action in the UFL Cup despite being in the squad’s official roster.

Kaya FC fell short of the League title last year after lagging behind reigning champion Global in goal differential.

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino-Spanish striker Javier Patiño of Spanish second-division club Cordoba CF is expected to fly to the Philippines on Monday, January 28, to process his documents for him to be eligible to play for the national team, according to Azkals liaison officer Rafael Garcia.

The prolific striker who starts for Cordoba CF was originally scheduled to arrive in Manila on January 23 but conflict on flight schedules impeded him from taking the flight.

Garcia mentioned that the reason for the conflict is that he needed to fly back to Spain a day after his arrival for the training of his club.

“He was supposed to arrive yesterday (January 23) but there were difficulty getting flights. He’s expected to arrive Monday afternoon (January 28) to complete all his documents then he needs to fly back to Spain the morning after for his club’s training,” Garcia said on the sidelines of the PFF-Smart Club Championships press conference.

Upon completion of the processing of his documents, the 24-year-old highly-anticipated striker only needs to secure permission from his club to suit up for the Azkals for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers slated on March 22-26 and for future international fixtures, according to Garcia.

“Javier (Patiño) will already be part of the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier roster and is expected to join the team for training next month and future international games,” Garcia said.

Patiño, whose mother is a Filipina, is expected to add firepower to the Azkals attack with the anticipated team-up with Azkals striker Phil Younghusband upfront. - Rappler.com

AFTER the cancellation of their three friendly matches against Singapore last December, the Little Azkals, or the Philippine Under 14 national football team, will go up against the Chelsea FC U14 squad on Jan. 25 in Manila.

Little Azkals team manager Richard Montayre said Chelsea FC’s management wanted the match earlier but he had to move it due to the Sinulog festivities. They also needed time to get the permission of the boys’ respective schools as they want team members coming from Visayas and Mindanao to be there at least two days earlier for team bonding and practice.

They would not have needed to be in Manila early if the training camp scheduled last December had pushed through, Montayre said.

The training camp, which was scheduled from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6, was cancelled due to typhoon Quinta.

The Chelsea FC U14, who is now in the country, had come from Korea and will be leaving the country on Jan. 28.

Aside from the Little Azkals, the visiting team will also be seeing action against other junior teams in Manila.

Montayre said that they are still negotiating on the venue either at the Rizal Memorial Stadium or in Alabang.

He added that the Little Azkals lineup will most likely be the same as that in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-14 Festival of Football (FOF) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON

THE Philippine men’s football team is closer to acquiring another potentially prolific striker from overseas.

Javier Patiño, a Filipino-Spanish striker who starts for Spanish second-division club Cordoba, is in the process of acquiring his Philippine passport, which would make him eligible to play for the Azkals in future fixtures.

A certification or “consularization” of documents from the Spanish embassy and permission from his professional club are the only two things that are keeping the highly touted booter from suiting up for the country.

Rafa Garcia, who acts as a liaison officer, among other duties, for the national team, said management has sent on Friday a letter to Cordoba and Patiño’s manager asking for the 6-foot, 24-year-old striker’s release for the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in March.

“The (Philippine citizenship application) documents, they’re here in Manila. I’ve double-checked already, pero kulang pa rin,” said Garcia when Spin.ph caught up with him after he watched Game Two of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals between Talk N Text and Rain or Shine at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.

“Hopefully, if his team will give him permission to leave, then we can have all the documents in Manila,” added Garcia, brother of Painters assistant Caloy Garcia and cousin of Azkals striker Angel Guirado.

Garcia hopes they can accomplish Patiño’s citizenship papers before the end of the month for the latter to make it in time for the Challenge Cup.