Pic : BACOLOD. Negrense Camelo Tacusalme and Azkals� Phil Younghusband battle for ball possession during their tune-up game Monday at the Panaad Stadium. (Contributed Photo)
By Jerome S. Galunan Jr.
IT WAS the strong sense of Negrense pride which pushed the Negros Selection, led by former national head coach Norman Fegidero, to equalize the match against the Philippine Football Team-Azkals, 4-all, before hundreds of Negrenses watching under the rain at the Panaad
Stadium Monday.
University of St. La Salle skipper Aldrin Dolino scored Negros� first goal in the 35th minute and the second half opening goal at the 61st minute while West Negros University striker Jaime Poderoso made two successive goals in the 83rd and 89th minute of the ball game, allowing the Negrenses to hold their heads up high after the tune-up match.
�The presence of Fil-foreign players influenced the Azkals� dominance in the first half,� admitted Fegidero, a renowned striker who scored against Malaysia during the 1991 Southeast Asian Games where the Philippine team made its way to the semifinals.
He also holds an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) �B� license.
�But in the second half when we expected the locals to come in, then we were able to give them a good match,� he added.
Meanwhile, he also stressed that there are lots of potential players in the province.
However, due to lack of tournaments as well as support, they were not well exposed, unlike in the past years when there were many clubs and lots of competitions being played.
�That�s why Negrenses had previously dominated the national team, with sixty percent of the players coming from the province,� he said.
Moreover, the former national coach said that he told his players, prior to the match, to play their 100 percent and show the Azkals that there are still lots of premiere talented Negrense players here whose talents are untapped.
To prove his point, Fegidero cited that most of the players in the under-23 national team, which the Philippine Football Federation is forming for the upcoming South East Asian Games, are from his squad.
On the other hand, Azklas head coach Hans Michael Weiss said that he is satisfied with the team�s performance in the early part of the match where, after fielding his key players, the Azkals finished the first half on top with a score of 4-1, with no players getting into injury and finishing the game safe. However, he did not comment on his second stingers� performance.
He said that he gave every player a chance but the result speaks for itself. �You must show that you deserve to be on the team,� he explained.
�In the first half, we got the rhythm and played more aggressively. We will be more focused in the coming game on February 9 as other players arrive,� Weiss said.
Phil Younghusband led the Azkals with two goals - the opening goal in the 6th minute and another in the 19th minute. Ricardo Bicete nailed the Azkals� second goal in the 10th minute.
Team captain Aly Borromeo made the first half closing goal in the 43rd minute through a corner kick from Phil Younghusband.
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on February 01, 2011.
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