Making football big in the Philippines

Being a populous nation certainly does not guarantee success on the football pitch.

Just ask China, home to a staggering 1.3 billion people. If ever there was a a nation which asked so much of itself and underperformed equally as much, China would probably have to be it. The men's national team of the world's most populous nation has struggled both results and credibility-wise on the international stage for years. The most recent disappointment of being bundled out of the 2010 World Cup qualifying group stage by Qatar, Iraq, and Australia, only served to remind the Chinese of how far they have to develop. Constant allegations of corruption, discipline problems both on and off the field, and an underperforming national team probably all served to deflate China's bid for the 2018 World Cup.

However, to portray China as the only nation in Asia with a heap of unlocked football potential would be misleading. A number of populous nations within Asia are nowhere near what they could and perhaps should be in football terms. The huge nations of Bangladesh (FIFA World Ranking 169), India (156), Pakistan (167), and to a lesser extent Indonesia (134), are failing to harness the potential of football as a tool for international investment and interest. Indonesia however, did co-host the 2007 Asian Cup, making names like Bambang Pamungkas and Ellie Aiboy familiar to football fans around Asia.

South of China sits the remarkably diverse archipelago of the Philippines, a nation home to more then 90 million people. Once a strong football nation in Asia, these days the Philippines is pleased with any win at international level.

With four visits to this eclectic nation, one of those for an extended period, I feel I am somewhat qualified to talk about life in the Philippines. I am not, however, an authority on Philippine football thanks to the appallingly low level of coverage it receives in Philippine media outlets and the low levels of football interest amongst the general population. What I do know of Philippine football can be attributed to digging through the internet for a perspective over some years.

A most striking thing (aside from pollution, traffic, and heat) about a walk through downtown Manila is the amount of people wearing basketball singlets and the amount of people casually shooting some hoops. A jeepney or a tricycle emblazened with the logo of an NBA team might fleetingly catch your attention. Thanks to the legacy of American colonisation in the early 1900s and an enduring cultural fixation with America, basketball is big here, and football is not.

Basketball is an important thread in today's Philippine social fabric. In poor urban settlements, families crowd around television sets or makeshift basketball courts cheering on their players and selling their wares. In the provinces, the basketball court is a central element of a town's social, cultural, and sporting life. Barangay meeting places double as basketball courts and local basketball matches draw big crowds. Basketball makes a lot of Filipinos happy, and good on them.

Football struggles for attention in the Philippines against not just basketball, but also billiards, boxing, and even ten-pin bowling. However, some might be surprised at the pedigree of Philippine football dating back to the era of Spanish colonisation and the years as an American colony in the early 1900s:

- Barcelona legend Paulino Alcantara was the first Filipino and Asian player to turn out for a European club and is still the club's highest goalscorer in history with 357 goals in 357 games.

- In 1913, the Philippines organised the first ever Asian international football match in Manila. The Philippines emerged victorious against China 2-1.

- In 1917, the Philippines demolished Japan 15-2 in Tokyo to record their biggest international victory, a record which still stands today.

- In 1954, the Asian Football Confederation was founded in Manila.

In recent years, the Philippines has struggled to compete at international level and while the nation's FIFA World Ranking currently sits at 158, it had dropped to as low as 195 in September 2006. The Philippines has never qualified for an Asian Cup or World Cup and sadly, it does not seem that qualification for either tournament is realistic soon. Curiously, Philippine Football Federation decided not to enter the men's national team in the past two World Cup qualifying campaigns, robbing national team players of much needed games and experience.

The Philippine men's national team has in recent years embraced an interesting side effect of having millions of Overseas Filipino Workers and ex-pat Filipinos abroad. It has adopted a somewhat controversial policy of contacting and capping Europe and American-based players with Filipino blood such as Phil and James Younghusband, Neil Etheridge, and Chad Gould in order to boost national team standards. The policy has had some success with the Philippines recording some impressive results including a 7-0 thrashing of East Timor in 2006 and a 0-0 draw with Tajikistan in 2008. In the next decade, the Philippines should be looking to qualify for and do well in competitions such as the AFC Challenge Cup and the ASEAN Football Championship.

As much as anything, what football needs to succeed in the Philippines is a massive cultural shift and significant investment and expertise, particularly from Europe. Some argue that the Philippines would enjoy more success and exposure on the international stage if football is embraced more at the expense of basketball. This would mean more investment, interest, and infrastructure in the country. FIFA is recognising the potential of football in the nation with its contribution of funds to the building of a brand new Philippine Football Federation administration base in Pasig City.

In attempting to dig up information about Philippine football on the internet, sites such as philfootball.info and pinoysoccer.com do not seem to exist anymore which is a shame. In a nation dominated by basketball, a dynamic internet community driving discussion and debate is an essential element in improving football standards. Hopefully Filipinos are talking about football out there somewhere.

Philippine Mens National Team latest results:

18/04/2009 - Turkmenistan 5 - 0 Philippines (Friendly)
16/04/2009 - Maldives 3 - 2 Philippines (Friendly)
14/04/2009 - Philippines 1 - 0 Bhutan (Friendly)
23/10/2008 - Cambodia 2 - 3 Philippines (Friendly)
21/10/2008 - Philippines 1 - 2 Laos (Friendly)