No Love for the Volcanoes?

In an historic upset the Philippine national rugby team, dubbed “the Volcanoes”, toppled regional powerhouse Thailand to bag the 2017 Asia Rugby Sevens championship held in Doha Qatar the past two weeks. The news for many Filipinos will not be the fact that a national team won a major sports tournament, but rather in finding out that […]

Nate Burkey: Living the dream

This is an article I wrote for Pinoyfootball.com http://pinoyfootball.com/index.php?page=newsupdates&newsId=11100282 NEW ZEALAND — DEEP inside all of us, we have a hidden ambition we choose to bury believing that the odds are too high to overcome and transform it into a reality. Santiago Muñez in the film Goal, was a mere part-time mechanic and busboy who dreamed of […]

Pinoyfootball.com: Angel Guirado goes Global

This is an article I wrote for Pinoyfootball.com http://pinoyfootball.com/index.php/81-features/87-angel-guirado-goes-global NEW ZEALAND — When a professional footballer signs for a club in Asia or in the US, especially if he once plied his trade in Europe, his move is often seen as a fall from grace. Usually it is a last resort since no other club is […]

Javier Jacutin Mariona: Born for Great Things

This is an article I wrote for PinoyFootball.com http://pinoyfootball.com/Features/2011Mar07Mon142231 By LOUIE ENCABO PinoyFootball.com Exclusive NEW ZEALAND –Some people are born into this world are bound for greatness. You can tell who they are sometimes when something shows up in the manner of their birth or in their accomplishments as young men and women. Clark Kent […]

The Pinoy Side of Fred Holtom

This is an article I wrote for Pinoyfootball.com http://pinoyfootball.com/Features/2011Apr09Sat042953 NEW ZEALAND –England has given us some of our vital national team players; the Younghusband brothers, the Greatwich trio, Rob Gier, Chad Gould and of course the indispensable Neil Etheridge among others. Being a country where football is the main religion and having such a great […]

From Wolf to Azkal

This is an article I wrote for Pinoyfootball.com NEW ZEALAND — “I want to play for the Azkals, but mom was already a German citizen when I was born”, said Denis Santos Wolf when asked if he would be interested to apply for a Philippine passport and play for the Philippine national football team. Denis […]

Ralph Koch: Waiting to Shine

This is an article I wrote for Pinoyfootball.com The Azkals’ goalkeeping positions are firmly held by four talented individuals. Fulham’s Neil Etheridge, veteran and probably United Football League’s (UFL) best keeper Eduard Sacapano, promising sixteen-year old Christopher Camcam and Cebuano teenager Paolo Pascual now crowd that position. This was the pecking order of the team’s […]

Waving our own Flag

As the most recent edition of the FIFA World Cup came to an end a few days ago, emotions varied among the few Filipinos who followed each game closely. They were either ecstatic if they were fans of La Furia Roja (Spain), as the team had lifted their first ever World Cup trophy. Then the […]

The Plight of the All Whites

Bahrain concedes a corner…Kiwi strikers and midfielders position themselves in the enemy box as Bahraini defenders try and block them…Bertos crosses the ball in, Rory Fallon jumps…and scores!!! The above narration tells the story of New Zealand’s historic qualifying play-off win over Bahrain in their own home ground. The All Whites, as they are fondly […]

Political Football?

As the French progress to the World Cup Finals of 2010, one has to ponder if whether the former one-time tournament winners really deserved a spot in the biggest sports event in the world. After a controversial play-off win against a strong Republic of Ireland side the result is now highly contested. The person under the […]