Azkals, Back to the Semis

“Oh, wait, wait, what a beautiful run. GOAL!”

That was just one of the lines that I’ve been shouting since the start of the match. So, yes, I’m not a fan of… those who are not fans of Philippine football. Come on people, believe!

The start for the Azkals on this AFF Suzuki Cup was not that great. Let’s take a time travel. Back on that Thailand – Philippines match, Day One of the cup, the Azkals played with connection for the first 20 minutes. But, unfortunately, unmarked guys made their goals. That’s drastic, considering how the Philippine Azkals have been playing since the Friendly matches. We ended Day one by losing to the physical plays of the Thais, 2 – 1. That one goal by the way, was from a ground cross/pass to Mulders. That goal was made on the second half. At least, after that goal, we knew that we had something within the team. And so, we looked forward to the second game.

Second game, Day Two, against the scary team of Vietnam. I was so happy back then on how we passed the ball / how the midfielders controlled the ball that created that much chances, unfortunately, the finishing was not there for us during the first half. So the subs came in, Guirado, Caligdong and Angeles. Fresh legs ran the floor and made Weiss smile from the stands. Weiss, if you guys can still remember, was ejected because of that act – which was not that proper at all. Forget that, Guirado was so active during that match. One, two dribbles and a wonderful pass to the running Chieffy Caligdong. The Captain with the first touch and a dribble and boom, a fantastic goal! Oh how picture perfect that goal is! So we won that game, 1 – 0. Thanks to that save by THE ED SAcapano (and his friend, crossbar)!

That was the motivation that the Azkals needed. Now all that we need is a win on Day Three – the final day of the group stages.

Against Myanmar, we noticed the fast-paced match that the Burmese wanted. The first half was entertaining but not that exciting. No goals to tell. No goals to seal the deal for the Filipinos. Second Half, the Azkals made runs and crosses. Before even the match started, I predicted a goal from Phil Younghusband. Phil is too good of a striker to have no goals at all. Come on, once and for all, he’s Phil! So his shots during the First half were on target. Wow, powerful and accurate shots! From there, I was so sure that Phil would make a goal or two – and so he did. A first touch from the right side and a kick right through the left corner of the goal – a perfect goal that two goalkeepers won’t even save! That removed the pressure out of my mind, honestly. Thanks to the active plays of Guirado, De Jong, De Murga and others. Guirado, he’d been playing fantastic football since Day Two – the same physical and speedy player. Then the officials announced the 5 minute injury time – sorry Myanmar, Guirado just made that look easy. One on one with the Goalkeeper, an accurate kick was all that needed. There you go! A shout from me and a call for full time. Great job!

With these wins, we’re now going to the Semi-Finals. Welcome, Philippine Azkals! Welcome to Manila, AFF Suzuki Cup! Let’s get the trophy once and for all. BELIEVE!

Wrath of the PBA Referees

First of all, I want to congratulate the B-MEG “PLANET” for winning this one! Oh my, you surely deserve this one! And the journey was not that easy right? Oh c’mon, especially if the referees are there acting as your teammates. Ginebra and their fans’ power were not enough to hold down the B-MEG players and the referees. Because if they do, the referees would surely blow their horns and call for a foul. Every drive from the B-MEG players were all “fouled” according to these grade school referees. Foul there and foul everywhere. Go kick Dylan and Vroman right? Well, mission accomplished to these referees.

I would not post this one if not for the carelessness of these officials. They were consistently inconsistent on bringing up their calls. It’s obvious, no one can deny, it was a one-sided game, if not series.

Well, I would not like to forget the calls that you refs also made on Game 4 of the TNT and Barako Bull series where you guys did not gave those two “obvious” Flagrant foul calls that would have changed the complexion of the game for the Bulls.

Dear PBA, please bring back your referees to school and maybe learn BASKETBALL101 again. If not, you’d surely experience the meltdown that you don’t want to see.

Again, congratulations to B-MEG! To coach Tim Cone, to Bowles and to the rest of the players and the planet.

Go PBA REFEREES! Lead B-MEG/TNT to a championship!

Real Madrid FC 1 – 3 FC Barcelona (Real x Barca)

Expect a biased blog post my dear readers. I’m just so happy that Barca won.

I expected a great much and el clasico gave me what I was looking for. I woke up early in the morning just to see the red and blue conquer the men in white, and maybe, see my icon Lionel Messi finish a goal once again.

Perhaps the only positive minute for Real was the first minute. They started the match with a goal, well, it was because of the carelessness of the goalie anyway. Still, a good thing that Real capitalized on it. I became shocked because an early goal was given right away. That time I was thinking if Barca had anything to get the goal back as soon as possible.

So the match went on and the possession by possession game of Barca prevail. Real had some lapses that lead to some goal. Ronaldo just can’t connect, he had I think 3 or 4 shots on goal.

Possession and chances just made Barca won. No doubt that patience prevail during the match. Though Messi didn’t score, he was still terrific from the get go. He passed the ball and created some plays. The accuracy of the passes by Barca was just amazing. My favorite goal was the one made by Cesc, a goal that explains the team play of Barca. Iniesta -> Messi -> Alves -> Cesc. That’s how we do it folks.

I still feel that Barca just controlled the match. And Real just had nothing going on for them. Now I believe that they’re all tied up in the standing which is a good thing for me. I’m a proud Barca fan and I’ll support them all the way. Just please bring them here in the Philippines. If it is just possible.

What a great start for my day. God Bless and keep in touch.

To conclude: FC BARCELONA is STILL the BEST team in the world. ¡Visca elBarça!

All photo credits go to their respectful owner/s.

Science and Faith

Science is frequently described as the enemy of faith. Through all these years, these two systems have been colliding and leaving questions to the minds of all the rational creatures residing here on Earth.  The fight seems to never end soon as they kept arguing about things and disapproving theories that each system proposed.

The creation and the whole design of the universe leave the curious minds of the scientists asking. They have been searching for evidences to prove their theories about the start of the universe and perhaps, they would like to prove that what is written in the Bible is amiss. They proposed this “Big Bang” theory that initiated it all. This theory states that everything started when a very dense small particle exploded and expanded.  This theory was then criticized by many believers of God. But, many minds were “enlightened” by this theory saying that they have been fooled by the religion for the past years of their lives.

Many intellectual people are saying that religion is full of biased ideas. These atheists are saying that religion is proposing theories and beliefs without strong evidences to brace them. They say that religion lacks support and studies unlike Science that is full of ideas. Think again, measure every statement and clarify every thought. Science is indeed dissenting to what the religion is saying. Science itself is searching for answers to every question that they have in mind.

I’ve been searching for different opinions and assumptions of people from different walks of life since last month. Questions are still lingering on my mind as of this very moment. I am thinking why these two systems can’t go together. They have been contradicting each other since the start. I know that I cannot find the absolute truth about this particular issue but I’m trying to figure it all out. Seriously, why can’t these two systems go together and find the real answers to our questions? These fights and arguments will surely give us knowledge but it will not bring us any further. I will still give my ear to Science and Religion.

Sometimes, I am asking myself some questions. Religion is saying that God created all these natural disasters to teach us lessons while Science unfolds to us why it happened. What to believe?

We humans are worrying so much on the “HOWs” of our lives instead of asking “WHYs”. Science is inquiring how the world started instead of asking why we are in this world. Can it be possible that we are being too nosy on how the universe originated? We must search for the true meaning of the human existence. I am not saying that religion can answer this question because unfortunately, the religion itself had been politicized.

We are living in the modern world; living inside the Earth that was caused by drastic permutations on the environment. It is all up to us on what to deem. Science has evidences, theories and studies while religion has its writings. We need to have faith on things that we believe in. I have faith that I have a God that created it all but I’m not closing my mind to possible ascertainments.  We must start living and stop existing. Let us find our purpose here on Earth. Let humans be the judge on the clash of Science and Faith. We must be the beneficiary of all these altercations.

These two systems must then unite and do their share in the modern world. They are actually interconnected to each other if we will look at it in a detail. Albert Einstein once said; “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.”

Pacquiao-Marquez III: A Controversial End

You can put this one to the list of “The Most Controversial Boxing Fights” ever. They both deserved to win actually.

I’ve been waiting for this fight for like 20 days before Nov. 13; I actually bought a ticket to watch PacMan live but unfortunately, my commitments wasted it. Going back to the fight, I thought Marquez controlled the first half of the fight. He was dominant since the first round and did everything right. My tweeps were tweeting things like “what happened to Pacquiao” and things like that. I was also wondering why Pacquiao is not showing up. I mean, I’m not used on seeing Pacquiao receiving punches from his opponent. 

The Last half of the fight will go to Pacman, but I didn’t say that Marquez got tired as of this moment. Marquez continued to fight and that made me decide that Pacquiao has a slim chance of winning this game.

I was holding on to that slim hope; I’m still hoping that Pacquiao will still win the fight. I was so nervous; the fight was so intense.

As the Round 12 ended, I was so shocked. I thought Marquez will win the fight BUT I still got the feeling that Pacman would not allow this huge upset. I waited for the decision.. I waited.. I ate my lunch (Ooops, that’s unnecessary I think).. The judges made their decisions.. It ended up like this: Pacquiao with a Majority Decision win. I was like, OH GREAT! YEAH YEAH YEAH!! But I’m not that convinced that Manny won the fight. I’m not saying that Manny is not deserving but I think he’s not himself during that fight. But again, I’m still proud that Manny won the fight.

To end this one, I would like to congratulate Marquez. Major props to him. He was great; he did everything very well but maybe, it’s just not your time to defeat PacMan.

Now who’s up for a PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ 4? Or do you prefer to watch PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER 1? (Why did I included “1” there? Oh never mind.)

All photo credits go to their respectful owner/s.

**This post was first posted on 11/13/11 on my Tumblr Blog**