Sana wag naman 10+ - 0 ang score.
Filipino football fans will get an early Christmas gift when major league soccer team LA Galaxy visits the Philippines for a friendly game against the Philippine Azkals on
December 3 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
LA Galaxy President Thomas Payne confirmed that the entire Galaxy team, led by football superstar David Beckham, will be in town to play against the Azkals.
"We're looking forward to playing in front of a crowd that's in front of the action. It's gonna be a really memorable night for this community and for the sport of soccer," Payne said.
The friendly game against Galaxy will be a fitting end to a year that saw a rise in football's popularity in the Philippines, thanks in part to the improvement of the Philippine Azkals.
"This will end the year with a big bang," said Azkals team manager Dan Palami. "We thought the convincing win against Nepal was good enough, but here we are with an early Christmas bonus."
Payne believes that the upcoming friendly will only contribute to the popularity of the sport.
"Coming into a market like this, which is going football-crazy as I understand... putting on a game, bringing this kind of PR and media can only be good for the sport in this country," he said.
Aside from Beckham, Filipinos will also get to watch Galaxy stars Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane match up against the Azkals.The Galaxy players will also conduct a football clinic for the children of Bantay Bata on December 2 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in an effort to give back to the community."We're not coming into your market, playing the game and then leaving. We have zero interest of doing that, that wouldn't be the right thing to do," Payne said. "We're passionate about the children and the kids, and whatever we can do to help give back here."
Palami said the LA Galaxy visit means a lot for Philippine football, especially for the national football team.
"It means that we are now on the radar of high-profile teams. As far as Philippine football is concerned, I'm quite pleased that somehow, we are now being considered as a good place to have a football match in," Palami told abs-cbnNEWS.com.
Ray Jonsson, Dennis Cagara and Jerry Lucena have already indicated that they are willing to play for the friendly, while goal keeper Neil Etheridge may also be available.
(I think they should get Muller instead, mas mataas ranking nya kesa kay Etheridge sa FIFA 11 )Palami is also waiting for the response of Fil-German Stephan Schrock.
read more...
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/10/27/11/beckham-la-galaxy-play-vs-azkals-dec-3
