Football Philippines

By Celest R. Flores (INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines – After a hot streak, Team Philippines hit a wall of football power countries in the 2011 Homeless World Cup in Paris, France.

In the battle for the City Cup—the trophy stage for the 17th to 24th position, the Philippines suffered two more blows Saturday against Italy, 3-7, and Austria 4-8, nearing the close of the annual street football competition aiming to change lives through every goal.

The Philippines also took a beating from three European powerhouse countries and a South American dynasty as it yielded to Poland, 1-10, and Scotland, 2-7, last Thursday and relented to Portugal, 4-6, and Brazil, 1-9, Friday.

Czech Republic and the Philippines, both who did not get wins in the quarters and semis, will clash Sunday to determine who will go home as the 23rd and the 24th finisher, while United States and Denmark dispute the City Cup trophy.

But even as the squad—beefed up by eight underprivileged yet talented boys discovered from around the Philippines who were all united for the love of the game—failed to advance to the Homeless World Cup final, they already achieved more than what they did last year.

Last year’s team Philippines – a different cast from this year – bagged the Host Cup for a 25th place finish in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.

Co-skipper Janrick Soriano (Negros Occidental) and Jeffrey Guelas (Manila) lead this year’s delegation, who came to be known as the crowd darlings among the 48 participating countries as the boys were cheered on by hundreds of Filipinos at the event Arena shadowed by the Eiffel Tower.

Berth Anthony Sienes (Manila Boys Town), Jeffrey De Castro (Cainta, Rizal), Ricardo Padilla Jr. (Pangasinan), Aljohn Matulac (Estancia, Iloilo), John “Putot” Celiz (Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo) and Michael Rojo (Negros Occidental) complete the Homeless World Cup team, mentored by coach Rudy Del Rosario.

Meanwhile, Mexico, who downed Brazil in the semis, 5-1, booked a seat in the Homeless World Cup title match Sunday and will face Scotland, who eked out a 5-3 victory over Kenya.

One of the highlights of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup has been the vociferous support of the Pinoy team by their passionate local fan base.

Paris has a large Philippine community who have provided vocal and colourful support of their team throughout the tournament.

Interest is also burgeoning online as the Homeless World Cup website is receiving unprecedented traffic from the Philippines and our Facebook site is swamped by supporters wishing their team well.

The local and international support has certainly buoyed the players as an un-fancied Philippines team secured a third place finish in a tough Group H and won their opening game of the Secondary Stage yesterday.

Jeffrey Guelas of Team Philippines said: “Every time I play I see people surrounding me. We feel so happy to have this support and that we are carrying the fight of our nation in such a fantastic atmosphere.

Coach Rudy Rosario added: “The support is a great morale boost for the team but aside from this the locals are bringing us little bits of food because our boys can’t live without rice! It’s like they never left home!”

Source: HomelessWorldCup.org

The Philippines defeated Croatia 8-5 in the knockout stage of the 9th Homeless World Cup in Paris, France on Wednesday.

The Filipinos continued their title bid over the Croatians.

Team Philippines, which entered the knockout stage by beating Switzerland 8-2, built a 4-3 lead versus Croatia in Half time.

Mentored by Football coach Rudy del Rosario, Team Jeepney scored 4 more goals against Croatia’s 2 in the second half for the win.

The Philippines is clustered with Croatia, Portugal, Scotland, Poland and Brazil in Group C.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines advanced to the knockout stage of the 9th Homeless World Cup in Paris, France by winning on Day 3 of the tournament.

“Team Jeepney” first defeated Switzerland, 8-2, to secure a spot in the top 24 of the tournament.

Fresh from their 4-3 upset against the United States, the Filipinos outhustled the Swiss footballers for their 3rd straight win.

However, the Philippine team succumbed to the Netherlands in the following match, 5-2.

A post on the team’s Facebook account said the Dutch players jumped to a 2-1 lead over the Filipinos in the first half.

In the second half, The Netherlands added 3 more goals while Team Jeepney managed to score only 1.

The Philippines is now ranked second to The Netherlands in Group H with 3 wins and 2 losses.

The country is grouped together with Ghana, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States.

Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com