GALAXY OF FOOTBALL STARS. (From left) Promoter Jinx Macabenta, Philippine Football Federation president Mariano "Nonong" Araneta, LA Galaxy president of operations Thomas Payne, and Azkals team manager Dan Palami earlier at Makati Shangri-La.
MANILA, Philippines—Big football names like David Beckham and Landon Donovan, along with the rest of football club Los Angeles Galaxy are coming to Manila this December.
The Galaxy, after wrapping up their Major League Soccer campaign, will go head-to-head with the Philippine national football squad in an international friendly on Dec. 3. at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
President of LA Galaxy’s business operations Thomas Payne assured that the full line up, including Irish striker Robbie Keane, will be present to put on a show.
“We understand what this is about. We understand that we have popular players. And they will be on the Tour,” said Payne.
“It comes in a really good time for us. Barring any kind of injury, the whole team is here. They know when they sign on, but they’re going to go on a post season tour,” added Payne, who arrived in the Philippines just this morning just to take a tour of the city.
National team manager Dan Palami, though, believes that the Galaxy will feel the full brunt of the Akzals attack in the pitch.
“The Azkals will play as if we have to win the game,” said Palami in a press conference Thursday at the Makati Shangrila.
Palami said that he has sent out invitations to the players based abroad, and among those who have responded are Fil-Icelandic Ray Jonsson, Fil-British goal keeper Neil Etheridge, and Fil-Dutch Dennis Cagara and Fil-Danish Jerry Lucena.
“Some of the players we have in Europe have played against high profile players, so they’re used to this,” added Palami.
David Beckham is coming to Manila.
It has been a year since the Azkals’ unprecedented run in the AFF Suzuki Cup which resurrected football in the country—and the event is only a fitting way to end the a fruitful year.
“To end the year with the big bang—we thought that win over Nepal was enough. But this is an early Christmas bonus. It will be good for the Azkals and the Philippine football in general,” shared Palami.
And the enthusiasm and unwavering support for football for the past year was one of the reasons that won the Galaxy over to the idea of playing here.
“They [the officials] really, really wanted it [to happen here]. A lot of it has to do with that,” said Payne. “The commitment and the excitment.”
The moment the rumor about the friendly got out last week, it immediately became one of the most talked about topic on Twitter, a social networking site.
“We don’t usually like it when the word goes out because it ruins things. My digital team informed me about it, but I think it was awesome that the response was like that,” Payne added.
Payne was even impressed with the pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium after a quick inspection at the venue Thursday morning.
“The field was wonderful. It was more than what we expected, to be honest with you,” said Payne.
Even the small stadium in Rizal, which only has around 15,000 seating capacity, is something that Payne and the team is looking forward to.
“We’ve been playing all around the world, in front of 80-90 thousand people. But we’re looking forward to a small venue, a crowd that’s really gonna be close to the action,” added Payne.
The Home Depot Center, the Galaxy’s home stadium for the MLS could fill up to 27, 000 spectators.
The Galaxy will also hold a football clinic with some Bantay-Bata kids on the afternoon of Dec. 2 at the Rizal Memorial stadium, which is also a big inspiration for the post-season tour.
“Part of what we do in this sport is help to promote the sport that we love. We’ll definitely leave something for the kids,” said Payne.
An interaction or a fans day with the Galaxy’s stars is totally not off the table, but safety is, of course, the primary concern for Payne.
“We have to be very careful, he [David Beckham] is a very famous guy,” said Payne. “Reality is David is a very popular guy.”
Jinx Macabenta, the executive producer of the event, said the tickets will go on sale first week of November but the range of the prices is still not available.