Football Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – The Los Angeles Galaxy turned up the heat in the second half to beat the Philippine Azkals, 6-1, in their “Dream Cup” exhibition game at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on Saturday.

The Galaxy showed the Filipino fans why they are the 2011 Major League Soccer champions, scoring 4 goals against the Azkals in the second half alone.

The Azkals actually put up a commendable defense against the Galaxy during the first 20 minutes of the game.

But football superstar David Beckham worked his magic by scoring a beautiful shot in the 20th minute.

Beckham bent the ball, which looped its way past Azkals goalkeeper Eduard Sacapano.

The shot was followed up by another Galaxy strike, this time by Mike Magee, hiking Los Angeles’ lead to 2-0.

Magee fired the ball after receiving a perfect set up from Landon Donovan in the 38th minute.

However, the Azkals came up with tricks of their own.

Filipino-British striker Phil Younghusband attacked by escaping AJ DeLaGarza and slid in a goal in the 41st minute to make the score 2-1.

In the second half, Robby Keane surprised the Azkals with the Galaxy’s 3rd goal by striking in the 46th minute.

This was followed up by Adam Cristman who scored on a header off a cross by Donovan in the 62nd minute, pegging the scores at 4-1.

After 76 minutes play, Beckham decided to call it quits.

He acknowledged the cheers coming from his fans then stripped off his jersey. He handed it over to boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who was among the spectators.

Galaxy’s Greg Belhalter then scored on a penalty kick after drawing a foul from the Azkals’ Anton del Rosario.

Cristman struck again in the 87th minute to hike their advantage to 6-1.

The exhibition game is part of the Galaxy’s Asia-Pacific Tour.

Prior to their Manila visit, the Galaxy played against the Indonesian national team.

Beckham’s team also won that game, 1-0.

Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

Watch Match Highlights

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals and the Los Angeles Galaxy will play in an exhibition match at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium today.

It will be the last game of the year for the Azkals — a fitting end to a year that saw a rise in the popularity of football in the Philippines.

The LA Galaxy, meanwhile, are coming off a successful season that saw them win the 2011 Major League Soccer Cup.

They will be bannered by superstars David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane.

The Azkals will be led by homegrown players Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Edward Sacapano, and Phil and James Younghusband.

The Philippines will be missing the services of Europe-based players who still have commitments to their professional football clubs.

They include goalkeepers Neil Etheridge and Roland Muller, as well as midfielder Stephan Schrock.

Asia-Pacific Tour

The Philippines is the Galaxy’s second stop in their 2011 Asia-Pacific Tour.

They won 1-0 in their first game against a selection from the Indonesia national team.

Galaxy players arrived in Manila Thursday afternoon.

Aside from playing in the friendly, LA Galaxy also held a football clinic for kids and had a practice session at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Friday.

At least 200 kids joined the clinic.

Galaxy players led by Beckham showed children passing and dribbling techniques.

Beckham enjoyed himself, frequently giving the kids high-fives and engaging them in conversation.

“The children out here today are incredible… it’s amazing hoe positive the energy the children have. they’re so happy,” said Beckham.

Galaxy players proceeded with their own training after the football clinic.

Idols

For the Azkals, the exhibition game will be a chance to play against their idols, but they maintain they will be professional during the game.

“Pagkatapos ng game, pwedeng magpa-autograph, magpa-picture. During the game, kailangan professional,” said striker Phil Younghusband.

Caligdong is looking forward to finding himself matched against Beckham, and says he hopes to learn a lot from the experience.

“Malaking challenge para sa amin. Maraming matututunan mula sa team ng Galaxy, especially David Beckham,” he said.

Azkals team manager Dan Palami is hoping that the PH XI will be able to give the 2011 MLS Cup champions a tough test.

“Hopefully for the Team Azkals, we give them a good fight, para yung ibang teams, they will want to play against us kasi they will get a good session,” Palami said.

Europe-based Azkals Rob Gier and Ray Jonsson arrived in Manila late Wednesday evening, and both said they were excited to face the LA Galaxy.

“It’s just an unbelievable opportunity,” Gier said. “If you told me a few months ago that we would be playing against David Beckham here in Manila, I would’ve laughed at you,” Gier said.

Jonsson said that a win was possible, “if we play good defense.”

The Azkals head coach Michael Weiss urged Filipino football fans to fill the stadium and cheer during the match.

“I hope they will come in masses. I hope the stadium will be sold out,” Weiss said.

Discounted tickets

The ticket prices for the Azkals-LA Galaxy exhibition game range from P2,000-P15,000.

The United Football League (UFL) has offered fans a 35% discounts on all tickets.

People who still want to buy tickets to the game need to give the code #6987 when buying at Ticketworld outlets. The discount is not available when buying online.

With reports from Dyan Castillejo and Raffy Santos, ABS-CBN News

Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine football fans will get to see world-class action when the Philippine Azkals face off against the 2011 Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday.

The game, which features Galaxy superstar tandem David Beckham and Landon Donovan, will be broadcast live by Studio 23 and on BALLS HD (SkyCable ch. 167) starting 6:30 p.m. on Saturday (December 3).

There will also be replays on Sunday (December 4), 10:15 a.m. on ABS-CBN, and Monday (December 5), 9 a.m. on BALLS.

The event, aptly called “The Dream Cup,” takes place at the historic Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.

Led by forward Ian Araneta and left winger Chieffy Caligdong, the Azkals will prove they have what it takes to go toe-to-toe against global football heavyweights Beckham and Donovan, who will showcase their superior football skills in front of football fans.

Beckham, the English midfield superstar, was captain of the England national football team from 2000 to 2006. He also played for football giants Manchester United, Real Madrid, A.C. Milan and now the L.A. Galaxy.

Beckham was also twice a runner-up for the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year in 1999 and 2001.

Donovan, the American superstar forward, holds the title of being the highest scoring American player in World Cup history. He also played for Bayern Munich and Everton.

Donovan received the 1999 FIFA U-17 best player award and the 2002 FIFA World Cup best young player award.