Boy-Band-Good-Looks and Football

905 Words2 Pages

The football-frenzy has finally hit the Philippines. After countless decades of basketball and boxing craze, the Filipinos have found a new sport to go crazy about. The Philippine’s stunning 2-0 win against the defending champion Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 not only made headlines on Sports Illustrated, a US-based sports magazine, but also proved that the Filipinos can keep up with other international teams in other sports besides basketball. Gifted with excellent dexterity and speed due to their small stature, one cannot deny and imagine what amazing things Filipinos can do in the football field. Truly football is the sport fit for the Filipinos.

Football was first introduced to the Filipinos by English sportsmen who are members of the Manila club in the 1890’s during the Spanish colonial period. However, it was not easily accepted by society before, for it was played by half-mad foreigners. But due to curiosity and the highly imitative character of the young Filipinos, the game was soon played by the locals. Paulino Alcantara, a mestizo born and raised in Iloilo, played football for Joan Gamper’s FC Barcelona team in 1912 until 1927. He scored a total of 357 goals during his whole stay in the club and even earned the nickname El Rompe Redes meaning net breaker because of the force of his kicks. He was considered a great asset to the team and was deemed the greatest Filipino football player ever produced. (azkals-philippinefootball.com)

Football, however, was then overtaken by basketball and boxing a few decades later when the Spaniards left and the Americans came and took charge in colonizing the Philippines. Basketball became the new fever, the locals welcomed the newly introduced sport with open arms, and every...

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