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Monday, July 17, 2006
RP XI vs Laos in Bacolod opener
By Henry C. Villalva
THE Philippines and Laos did not have an opportunity to face each other when the country hosted late last year here in Bacolod City men's football competition of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) because both team belonged to opposite brackets during the elimination round. Both squads likewise failed to advance to the next round.
But when Bacolod plays host to the qualifying tournament of the sixth Tiger Cup, now renamed as the Asean Cup Football Championship on November 12-20 this year at the Panaad Sports and Recreational Park in Barangay Mansilingan and at the Paglaum Sports Complex, Laos will clash with the Philippines in the opening match scheduled on November 12. Laos is the top seed in the qualifying round.
Organized and hosted by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) together with its member provincial association the Negros Occidental Football Association (NOFA) headed by fourth district Representative Carlos O. Cojuangco, the tournament is once again expected to draw big crowds of football fans primarily coming from the football cities and provinces of the Visayas.
Laos, ranked 172nd in the world by the International Football Federation of FIFA, competes against Cambodia (N. 184), Brunei (No. 193), Timor Leste (new) and host Philippines (No. 191) in the Bacolod qualifying series for a spot in the main draw of the biennial competition which is organized by the Asean Football Federation.
The top two teams of the qualifier will advance to the next phase and will join Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam and defending champion Singapore in the championship round.
The Philippines takes on Timor Leste on Nov. 14, No. 2 seed Cambodia on Nov. 18 and Brunei on Nov. 20 in its last match.
PFF officials look at the country's hosting of the event as another opportunity for further heightening the popularity of football in the country particularly in the provinces.
The Philippines has won only once in all its outings in the Tiger Cup--in 2004 when it came from behind to beat Timor Leste, 2-1, with a team likewise mentored by 23rd SEAG coach Aris Caslib. Other Tiger Cup RP squads in the past were mentored by Noel Casilao and Hans Smit in 1996, Juan Cutillas in 1998 and 2000, Sugao Kambe in 2002 and Caslib in 2004.
The Tiger Cup started in 1996 with Thailand winning it three times and Singapore twice.
(July 17, 2006 issue)
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