Manila, Phlippines ~ David Beckham & the rest of LA Galaxy arrived last 12/1
for a friendly match against our national team, Philippine Azkals.
his gorgeousness was at the press conference at the Makati Shangri-La shortly after their arrival along with Galaxy's captain, Landon Donovan. PH Azkals captain, Aly Borromeo, along with co-captain, Chieffy Caligdong, and the Younghusband brothers, James & Phil, represented the national team.
Beckham, along with his teammates, visited an orphanage managed by UNICEF the following day.
football clinic in the afternoon with the kids.
then an open practice afterwards.
finally, the much-awaited match between this year's MLS Champion, LA GALAXY, & the Philippine National Football Team, AZKALS, come Saturday, 12/3, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. it is a historical event for everyone ~ players, fans, viewers.
PH AZKALS XI (F-B, L-R) : <Co-Captain> Chieffy Caligdong, Phil Younghusband, Jason Sabio, Manny Ott, Ray Jonsson,
James Younghusband, Simon Greatwich, Anton del Rosario, Edward Sacapano, Angel Guirado, Rob Gier
LA Galaxy with David Beckham at the leftmost. sorry, i am not very much familiar with the names
of the players since i only watch La Liga and support FC Barcelona. but i'm trying to learn.
Aly Borromeo, Azkal's Captain, missed the match due to a surgery he recently underwent to mend the injury he incurred while playing for his local club, Kaya FC. Neil Etheridge, Azkal's 1st Goalkeeper, wasn't able to come due to his commitment with his English club, Fulham. Roland Muller, the other keeper who played last in the recently concluded SEA Games, was also unaivalable. home-grown player, Edward Sacapano, who last played for the team against Mongolia in the early part of the year, was the team's goalkeeper. although many are still wondering what would've been the result was if either Etheridge or Muller was goal-keeping, I still think that Sacapano faired well. not evident with the final score, but he was also able to save a lot of almost-goals by the visiting team. besides, we're talking about blocking kicks from the MLS Champs here!
Rob Gier, the one wearing jersey #2, was only able to play for 10min. from his tweet, he surely wasn't pleased that he travelled across the globe just to be inside the pitch for just 1/9th of the match. from the looks on the screen when he was on focused, something happened that made him went down. he wasn't able to get up and continue with the match and instead was substituted by the other Fil-Spanish player, Carlie de Murga. earlier today, he tweeted about a possible tear on his calf. later tonight, before leaving the country, he tweeted that there was no tear but a month rest is needed. he's flying back to his girls tonight with Ray Jonsson (the Fil-Iclandic player wearing jersey #27 whom you'll see defending against Beckham on the coming pics i have posted).
time to Bend It Like Beckham! ^_____________^
Beckham showed how to bend it like him while Angel Guirado, #12, and Simon Greatwich
(i think or Carlie de Murga #14), #18, watch.
nah~ this is not the kick that he made that was the night's first goal. that was from the center. i remember my mom kept on asking where Beckham was until he was just right there, at the right spot, at the right moment, kicking the ball at the right angle.
not sure if this is the shot when he kicked the ball for the first goal of the match. for some reason, though i love & support PH Azkals, i think that it's just fitting that Beckham's the one to break the ice. as expected, the crowd went wild.
hahaha who would not, right? i mean, c'mon~ David Beckham making the goal on Philippine turf... probably the first and the last one... of course the PH crowd was still happy. ^^
and not sure again if this was after he made the goal.
haha but hey, the image fits the story!
more of Beckham moves.
LA Galaxy won over the PH Azkals with a score of 6-1. i think, no, i believe that nobody have ever thought that the Azkals would win anways. but the single goal from Phil Younghusband made the crowd go ballistic in absolute happiness. at one point, it seemed like the match was really tight, or something like that.
btw, Phil was not only the lone scorer of the night for Azkals, but also the night's biggest fanboy.^^
everyone knows that the first thing he said to Beckham, from his tweet, during the pre-game press con was for him to have his jersey after the match. but when Beckham gave the one he was using during the match to Manny Pacquiao, there were some people left wondering what happened to Beckham's promise to Phil of giving his jersey to him.
during the post-game press con, Beckham came back just to hand over his signed jersey to Phil. definitely a man of his word, as Phil's brother James nicely put that in words on his tweet.
Beckham and the rest of the LA Galaxy left the country the same night for Australia. the Philippine Azkals lost but definitely won something in terms of experience. most importantly, they have played on the same pitch with one of football's iconic player whom most of them have idolized since they started playing the sport. Azkals were not the only winners of the night but the fans as well, most of all those who are fans of David Beckham and LA Galaxy for that matter. not even in their dreams that they have thought of watching their two favorite football teams playing against each other on the pitch on our own turf.
David Beckham, definitely, is not just a gorgeous and handsome football player but also one of the best in his field; with a big heart for children and the sport he loves most. i hope he'll come back one day. i hope by then, i won't let a chance of a lifetime passed by my fingertips once more.
as Landon Donovan tweeted, kita kits! ^^
Dream Cup 2011.12.03 - Manila, Philippines
PH Azkals V LA Galaxy
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photos I have posted. I was not able to watch the match where it was held but instead only cheered in front of my television along with my mom and siblings. Photos credited as tagged and from several other sources 1, 2, 3. ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
