Chieffy caligdong pictures of bed

Last Thursday night my commentary partner and I were in the van of our friend, Joel Dabao, somewhere in the back streets of Bacolod City on our way home from dinner.

As the city's graying buildings whirred outside our windows, Darren Hartmann, in a reflective mood, said something remarkable.

“It's good to be back here in Panaad. Because I used to live there. I think if I see it, I might even cry.”

Flash forward to the next afternoon, with a slate-gray sky hanging over us, we're standing on the carabao grass of Panaad, hours before Chinese Taipei stung the Azkals with a 2-1 win in the Peace Cup.

Darren wasn't with me in the booth for my last two Panaad Azkals games. Against Mongolia I was paired with Henry Atayde, and for last year's game, Rudy Del Rosario.

The tears don't flow for Hartmann, but the memories do come flooding back about that two-month National Team training camp in 2006 when Panaad Stadium wasn't just a home field, but home, period.

Darren looks around at the stadium fringed with eucalyptus trees and says “Nothing has changed. It even smells the same. It's weird.”

“There were thirty of us in the National Team living in the VIP section” says Darren, pointing to the box above the main grandstand.

ALSO READ: Aljon Mariano breaks his silence on Twitter.

According to Hartmann there was only one aircon, and his bed was all of two and a half feet wide. There were no hot showers, and in fact, no showers at all. During that camp, Darren learned the “tabo-tabo” technique. He demonstrates how he did it, crouching down, pretending to hold a tabo over his head, and seeming to tap-dance as a means of fighting off the chill of the unheated water.

Hartmann whips out his iphone and summons the Facebook profile photo of his team mate then, reserve goalie Alvin Montañez. It's an old photo of that training camp.

Through the yellowing picture we can make out Aly Borromeo, Chieffy Caligdong, Dan Padernal, Alvin Ocampo, Ian Araneta, Louie Casas, Ar

WITH all the headlines the Philippine Azkals are getting these days, it may seem ironic that their team manager, Dan Palami, is hesitant to acknowledge his role in the sport’s transformation in our basketball-crazy country. “I’m only about to start my second year [with the team],” he tells us, humbly implying that all the praise may very well be premature. The accolades are deserved, nonetheless, and here Palami shares the lessons he’s learned since the start of his tenure.

On Continuing The Football Frenzy

I think only a person who is crazy enough about football and has a passion for it can endure all the things that happened [to me] the past year: Dealing with the politics of the sport, the difficulty of forming a competitive team — nobody wanted to play for us in the beginning. Playing in the UAAP or NCAA was considered more prestigious than being part of the national team — and the sacrifices needed in maintaining that team. Every now and then, before I go to bed, when everything’s silent, I ask myself, “Is this something worth pursuing?” Then you wake up in the morning and you see kids in the street playing football, the excited faces of the fans when the Azkals play, and players who are as passionate and who are as proud as I am of what we have achieved.

On Dealing With Change

The beginning of the Azkals was a happy experience. We started on a very negative position. I brought in what I had — I’ve managed private companies myself — and it wasn’t so difficult [to meet expectations] because the team was unknown and the members didn’t even have allowances. They didn’t even have a proper training kit. So when I came in, my goal was to professionalize it. So every little thing you did was a plus. Now it’s more difficult because not all t

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Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) handed over to the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) the Football Training Center in Valencia, Bukidnon last December 1, 2013.

The center sits in a 5-hectare property. It boasts of a full-size natural grass field (FIFA Standard) and a training center with 2 dormitories (120 bed capacity), lecture rooms and 2 locker rooms for tams.

Funded through the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) Goal Project in the Philippines, the center was officialy turned over by FIFA Kuala Lumpur Development Officer Domeka Garamendi to the PFF, represented by President Mariano Araneta and General Secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes.

Philippine Azkals Misagh Bahadoran, Chieffy Caligdong and Angel Guirado graced the ceremony together with Mayor Jose Galario, Jr., acting Mayor of Valencia, Bukidnon, former Senator Miguel Zubiri and landowner Engr. Antonio Lacson-Gamboa who graciously leased the area for P1 a year for 25 years.. The PFF Board of Governors, and many Presidents and General Secretaries of Member Associations were also present to witness the event.

The center features a natural grass pitch, dormitories, changing rooms, lecture rooms and offices. This is the 4th Goal Project of FIFA in the Philippines.

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