PHILIPPINES, FEBRUARY 10, 2011 – Philippine football history was made last night at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City when the men’s national football team the Azkals beat the Mongolia Blue Wolves in the Asian Football Federation (AFF) Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers, 2-0.
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Over 18,000 Azkals supporters in white filled the stadium, many of them flying in from Manila just for the match, as thousands more who queued for tickets early in the morning were unable to secure any. But more than the unprecedented show of force from Filipino fans at the game, the outpouring of messages on Twitter also broke new ground. Midway through the game, the hashtag #azkals became the number one trending topic worldwide according to the website What The Trend and held the top spot for an hour before bowing out to the Valentine’s Day related meme #ifyoureallylovedher. The tweets started much earlier in the day, reaching fever pitch during the game itself. Fans tweeted their excitement, frustration, comments on the commentators, and their own play-by-play.
Even Mongolia broke into the top 10, as did Caligdong after Chieffy Caligdong scored the first goal in the first half. Caligdong hit number five on the list; Phil Younghusband reached number three, trending before and after he delivered the final goal of the game during extension. According to screengrabs tweeted by GMAnews.tv, the keywords Pinoy Ako, Bacolod and Neil Etheridge also trended on the Twitter front page.Football is not just a game for young people or for a screaming female audience–families trooped to the stadium and gathered to watch the game on TV. The Philippines vs. Monglia game marks a new dawn for football in the Philippines, evidenced by a feature on the FIFA.com frontpage yesterday.
Benefitting from the early exposure and association with the sport are ABS-CBN, which aired the game live on its UHF channel studio 23, and Smart Communications, which ensured connectivity throughout the stadium, as both the broadcast and telecoms giants’ banners lined the road from Bacolod airport.
Who knew that it would take a bunch of Azkals (stylized portmanteau of "aso" and "kalye", literally "street dog") to bring football frenzy to the Philippines? The road ahead is still long, for sure, and the Azkals will have to beat Mongolia on their rivals’ home ground next month. But there is undoubtedly much potential and promise in Philippine football and if the level of fan engagement can be sustained, the world is sure to sit up and notice that there is more to this country than an obsession with basketball.
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