Stars come out to shine for football, UFL

I don’t know who counted the billboards, but it was Santi Araneta, president of the Football Alliance who told me that Azkals Phil Younghusband had the most number of outdoor advertising billboards within the long stretch of the South Superhighway.
That includes all other sports and showbiz personalities, among them eight-division world boxing champion and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, according to Santi, who owns the LBC Football Club in the United Football League and co-owns other clubs in the same league.
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“This is really my sport,” he said last Wednesday during the press conference hosted by AKTV for the UFL, referring to football.
Santi was 18 years old when he was invited to join the national football team. He never realized his dream of playing for flag and country because shortly after the invitation, he was struck by a strange malady that rendered a huge part of his body paralyzed.
When he got back on his feet after years of therapy and rehabilitation, he was no longer fit to play.
Santi was involved in a different sport—basketball—when I first met him. He owned the LBC Batangas Blades in the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.
The info he gave me about Phil’s billboards was actually an indication of how football has grown in popularity since the Azkals came into being.
Santi’s dream has changed since his last when he was 18. His vision now is to one day see the game he loves transformed into one of the country’s mainstream sports. He believes it’s only a matter of time. The Azkals, he said, are largely to be credited for the frog leap.
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“Years ago we were lucky to have a hundred spectators even during a championship match, which were mostly relatives. In the recent UFL finals, an estimated crowd of 6,000 came to see the match,” Santi said.
He admitted he was overwhelmed.
One indication that football has arrived is when we start seeing kids playing soccer in vacant lots and in the streets, Santi said. “It is played more by kids in the provinces than in Metro Manila. Sometimes you even see them kicking the ball in basketball courts.”
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Wednesday night I found myself in the company of the Azkals, munching nachos and sipping hot coffee at Chili’s in Greenbelt.
After the press conference, AKTV corporate PR Chief Peachy Guioguio divided the Azkals, which had been distributed among the UFL teams, into two groups. The group headed by Peachy proceeded to Port Area for a tour of the Philippine Star editorial offices, while the group led by Paul Mata motored to Makati to visit the PDI offices.
After the media tours, the two groups met at chili’s for dinner. Peachy’s team was intact. Phil Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Mark Hartmann, Carli De Murga and the long-haired Angel Guirado were all there.
From Paul’s side, however, only Jason Sabio stayed to join the dinner. The others—James Younghusband, Anton Del Rosario, Nate Burkey, Ian Araneta and Lexton Moy had all gone their separate ways.
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“When the UFL players stepped inside the Star Office, people stopped working to take a good look at Phil, Misagh, Mark, Carli and Angel. Phil turned over the signed soccer ball to Miguel and Isaac Belmonte who welcomed us. There was non-stop photo-ops with employees, to which the boys graciously obliged. Inside the van, they were just like ordinary young boys teasing each other and having fun,” chef de mission Peachy reported at dinner.
On the other hand, hereunder is the account given by Paul Mata who headed the tour group to the PDI editorial offices: “The football stars were warmly welcomed by the staff, editors, Ms. Letty Magsanoc, and even PDI owner Sandy Prieto.”
“The staff had the opportunity to have their photos taken with the stars. A favorite among them was James Younghusband who would even get comments that he was more guapo than younger brother Phil. Unlike their first visit, the stars had more time to interact with the PDI staff,” said Paul.
Peachy said the tour was part of a campaign to get the football stars and the sport of football closer to the hearts of the Filipino people.