TER months of rigid training at the Manuel Y. Torres Sports Center in Bago City, the 20-man Philippine U19 Football Team-Musangs yesterday flew to Yangon, Myanmar for the Asian Football Federation (AFF) U19 Championship set September 8 to 21, 2011.
The squad, headed by Spanish coach Maor Rozen, is managed by former Negros Occidental 4th district Representative Charlie Cojuangco.
Cojuangco is the president of the Negros Occidental Football Association and a director of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), while Rozen was a member of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Uruguayan Football Association before he was tapped by PFF to spearhead the grassroots program in 2009.
Meanwhile, the squad is composed of players chosen from over 600 aspirants in several tryouts conducted across the country, particularly in Tarlac, Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Negros Occidental.
The team also boasts of two half Filipinos from Italy and Canada.
Earlier, Cojuangco stressed that the characteristics of a Musang, which is stealth and ferociousness, as well as resourcefulness when challenged, are what a football team needs to succeed. He added he wants a team that is going to be known for its football skills and not for the players� looks.
�We want to train them to become better persons as much as we want them to be better players. We cannot produce good players with the wrong values,� he said.
He added he always believed that football is a sport where Filipinos can excel.
Aside from the competitions, Rozen said the team should also be a good training ground to supply players for the U-23 category. Then, U-23 players could graduate into the Philippine Azkals, the country�s national men�s team, he explained. (JSG)
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on September 01, 2011.
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