The Tale of a TI Survivor

Caution: This is not for the fainthearted.

3 Dec 2011 - It was a typical Saturday. When I looked up to check the time, it was already past 1 in the afternoon; well past my weekend duty hours; well past lunch as well. Sis wasn't done with the salon yet but I sure am done for at least a day and a half for all the work that I have put in all morning. Pre-lunch fare was a slice of pizza. Something was odd. The dough tasted papery.

At home, there's not much to do but wait for the much hyped about LA Galaxy and Azkals friendlies (aka the Dream Cup - maybe because it was the organizers', the players', and the rest of the football lovers' collected dream to see the superstars of LA Galaxy)  at Rizal Memorial. It pays to read/watch the sports news (only if  Diane Castillejo wasn't in it. My! Listen to her!). So I paid dearly. Sat in front of the tube for nearly six hours, having no idea when or what station was the game to be aired.

Dinner came and gone. Then the game started. It was fun before it got really boring. At the fifteenth minute, I swore that if Beck wont make a goal in the first half, I'm off to sleep. Then on the 20th minute, maybe Beck got bored as well and wowed everyone with a goner from way way back. Truly, he bends it like no other.

I quit earlier than promised though. When the Azklas got that single goal, there was only one defender between the ball and Saunders. How was that possible. The last time I checked, there were 3 big guys protecting the goal, Beck included.

I remember our game against the USC varsity during the Thirsty Cup (hope we'll have the same event here in Negros). Even with the knowledge that we were not that tough a team, they never gave us a reason to feel small. They challenged us to be tougher and better players. Look at how where the girls now. 2, 3 championships in the open category and counting.

Addiction Fix

In a hurry to get to work today, I left my mug of milky brewed coffee on the cabinet at home. Hot water was absent at the Admin office and buying a cuppa at the local cafe was not an appealing option. Though I managed to finish what I have set out to do today, my head throbbed which on a regular day meant, I badly need to get my fix of coffee.

So, as soon as the clock hit 5pm, I gathered my stuff and did a quick shopping for dinner before heading home.

Too lazy to lift a hand, i laid supine on the sofa squinting at the television watching the local news. When dad left for his scheduled medication, I got hold of the remote and changed channels. On studio 23, Misagh, on the right flank where James is usually positioned, was in possession of the ball. The game against Macau was well underway and the Philippine team has already scored a goal courtesy of Chieffy.

(lifted from the quoted news dot com)

Thumbs up to Phil in this game. Although his attempts were not converted, he was wise and unselfish, giving the ball to a more well positioned team mate instead of going for glory himself. Kudos to Muller for not giving the opposing team the chance to equalize the score at any time.

My point is, coffee is not the only cure to unexplained headaches. Watching football does the trick as well.

Azkals vs Kaya in ICanServe Invitational Football Tournament

The last match in the series promoting awareness on Breast Cancer featured the star-studded A and K teams. It was already in the middle of the first half when I get to switch the channel to IBC but the score was still nil-nil.

It's difficult to manage a team where everyone wants to be in the limelight. Why is that?

When Hartmann hit the first goal, the other team strikers started to deliver too. After Chieffy and Angel, it is apparent that Phil already felt the pressure of making one as well. It was funny. There were two occasions when Phil made two attempts just before he hit the penalty box. Either he didn't see Hartmann behind the kaya defender, or he desperately wanted to kick the ball in.

Coach Weiss must have seen the trouble about so many strikers on the field and got Hartmann replaced. Soon enough, with the able assist from big brother YH (who did a great job defending and distributing the ball from the right flank), Phil contributed two more to the team's first 3 goals.

The Azkals finished with 5-0, and everyone thinks our team is ready to face the friendlies scheduled for this week and next.

azkals in town

There were a lot ofnew faces on the pitch today. A standout was Paolo Pascual. It was his smile that caught my attention in particular. I thought it mustbe his perfect set of teeth. Looking him up on the net tonight revealed that his parents were bothdentists and that he has to quit school when he made it into the national team. He came from Springdale inCebu. I might have seen him play in the 08 thirsty cup in the under 17 set. He's just 20.

Just as young was Camcam, whose potential I wasn't able to witness. With his long arms and legs, he can defend the opponent's goal as well as etheridge does.

The game itself didnot hold my interest for long. For one, the performers (the african trio of Global Technika) in the Azkals vs PFFSelection a few months ago did notdeliver in the first half. So fifteen minutes into the culmination of the first half, off to the driveway we went and had some pictures taken.

By a stroke of "luck", two players went our way. The fan, caught off guard, had the cam trained on the subjects but without much attention and with mouth gaping in wonder. Hence, the blurry output.

azkals vs kuwait

We are just not THERE yet.

The Azkals sure have gone a long way, but getting somewhere in football entails a lot of hard work...and time. We are up against teams from countries which declare a holiday every time their national team play.

How else could we show our support to our home team but watch their games?

And watch their games I did. Every single one.

My heart broke at the 3-nil culmination of the first match against the Kuwaitis last week. That didn't keep me from another broken heart after last Thursday's game. What made it more painful was the fact that by the second half, the Kuwaitis were undermanned and most of their subs saw action, still they managed to regal us with some quite fancy footwork and win the match.

(Just my opinion) Seeing that the penalty box is impenetrable or that we are undermanned in that area, Coach should have seen the advantage of making long shot attempts like Schrock did in the first half, we could have done better.

Oh, well.

all about june

There are only four notable events that were worth writing about what happened after the day when school started.

By the end of the two weeks when we should have gone back to the vet, cuchi's stitches were already down to one. Since there was no notable swelling or infection surrounding the wound, I took the liberty of removing the last one myself. The sad thing is that we have never been to the garden after the accident until now (just outside). Weeds and grass seem to be happy about the change that they flourished with gusto, some even towering the fast maturing pigeon peas

Lil bro arrived from the middle east not a week past bringing home a suitcase of laundry shielding 4-16oz mugs, 300g of instant coffee and about a kilo of nougat filled chocolates. Restless, he's been busy changing the landscape of our electronic world. As of yesterday, we watched movies in full 32-in screen and in dolby stereo. He plans of giving mom the same experience...but this time with playing her current favorite: plants and zombies.

Never take a bone from a dog's mouth, especially if that dog is tara. I should have taken a cue about what she is capable of when she effortlessly took a big bone from Cuchi who is five times heavier. What happened was mum fed Tara with chicken bone. In my alarm of finding the little thing choke, i went looking for her and try to forcibly extract whatever was left of the bone, only to end up getting my thumb bitten. So off to the clinic I went to have my first of the three-in-the-series rabies shots.

(photo lifted from the net...i forgot from manila bulletin or philippine star)

Fifa team no. 159 is making waves in the qualifiers. Since my Wednesday class was conveniently transfered to another time, I came home early enough for the Azkals vs Sri Lanka pre-game discussion which I dismissed in favor of running with Cuchi. Game proper proved to be super-charged. Refs gave out too many yellow cards early in the game. Nevertheless, that lone away-game goal kept the hope alive of seeing the boys play in the big league.