No More Mourinho

My Gosh. My blog is dominated by Portuguese. Yesterday, it was Cristian Ronaldo and now, its Jose Mourinho, the ex-Chelsea manager. Mourinho who calls himself the "Special One" severed ties with Chelsea yesterday, a day after the Blues were held to a 1-all draw by Norwegian side Rosenborg in their opening Champions League match.



The issues surrounding his exit remain a mystery to me but Chelsea has come out to quell talks that Mourinho was sacked. The club said it was a mutual decision. Mourinho has been at odds with the Chelsea Board and owner Roman Abramovich the past few months, especially with decisions related to the transfer of players.


Mourinho with Abramovich

Anyway, Mourinho will surely be missed by English Premiere League followers like me. I like him because he is my favorite villain. He has piqued me one time too many for his attacks on Manchester United and its manager Sir Alex Ferguson as well as on another favorite team, Barcelona, and its manager Frank Rijkard. Mourinho is a sore loser and is not afraid of speaking his mind out. Mourinho was probably the most quoted manager in the Premiere League. Good luck Jose! Im sure you're already a "millionaire" and get "hired by a new club in the next two months"

By the way, here are some of Jose's famous verbal volleys lifted from espnsoccernet.com:

• 'Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one' - Mourinho introduces himself to the English press after arriving from Porto in summer 2004.


• 'In the second half it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat. The referee controlled the game in one way during the first half but in the second they had dozens of free-kicks. I know the referee did not walk to the dressing rooms alone at half-time' - Mourinho claims Sir Alex Ferguson had unduly influenced referee Neale Barry at half-time during a Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United in January 2005. He was fined £5,000 by the Football Association for improper conduct.

• 'I don't regret it. The only thing I have to understand is I'm in England, so maybe even when I think I am not wrong, I have to adapt to your country and I have to respect that. I have a lot of respect for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence - 'shut your mouth' - was not for them, it was for the English press' - Mourinho defends putting a finger to his lips during the 2005 Carling Cup final against Liverpool, an action which resulted in him being sent to the stands.

• 'When I saw Rijkaard entering the referee's dressing room I couldn't believe it. When Drogba was sent off I didn't get surprised. There is something that tells me that in London the referee will be Collina, the best in the world. A perfect referee with personality and quality' - Mourinho claims in Portuguese newspaper Dez Record that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard visited referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time in the first leg of the teams' Champions League last-16 clash in February 2005. Mourinho was banned from the dug-out for two matches and fined £9,000 by UEFA for bringing the game into disrepute over his claims.

• 'I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent. I felt it didn't interfere with my players but maybe it interfered with other people and maybe it interfered with the result. You should ask the linesman why he gave a goal. Because, to give a goal, the ball must be 100% in and he must be 100% sure that the ball is in' - Mourinho questions the validity of Liverpool forward Luis Garcia' s goal which puts Chelsea out of the Champions League semi-finals on May 3, 2004.

• 'It is not a red card, of course not, and for the second time we have to play 55, 60 minutes without a man and the game is completely different. I shouldn't speak about the game, because the game is not a game' - Mourinho blames a first-leg defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 in February 2006 on the sending-off of Asier del Horno.

• 'We have played against them four matches in two seasons. (When it was) 11 against 11 they never beat us. That is the reality' - After 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp in 2006 which sent Barca through to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

• 'The goalkeeper has the ball in his hands, slides and the number 10 cannot get the ball. He goes with the knee into his face' - Mourinho accuses Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt of deliberately injuring Petr Cech after the pair collide in the first minute of last October's match at the Madejski Stadium.

• 'It is not possible (for) penalties (to be awarded) against Manchester United, and it is not possible (to get) penalties in favour of Chelsea. If somebody punishes me because I tell the truth, it is the end of democracy, we go back to the old times' - The Chelsea boss fumed last weekend after seeing his side's penalty appeals against Newcastle turned down, a day after United were given the benefit of the doubt over a strong injury-time penalty claim by Middlesbrough in their clash at Old Trafford.

• 'A player who wants to be the best one of the world, and he already may be, should have the uprightness and the sufficient maturity to verify that against facts there are not arguments. If he says that it is a lie that Manchester United have conceded some penalties this season which have not been awarded against them, he is lying. And if he lies he will never reach the level that he wants to reach' - Mourinho hit back at Ronaldo after the United winger claimed his penalty rant proved his countryman 'doesn't know how to admit his own failures'.

• 'It is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem' - Shorn of the likes of injury victims Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba, Mourinho cooked up a surreal analogy ahead of Tuesday's fateful draw with Rosenborg.

Respectful Ronaldo

For England's rabid football fans, superstar winger Cristiano Ronaldo's moment of infamy was "the wink" he made to the Portugal bench after he convinced the referee to send off Manchester United teammate and England striker Wayne Rooney in the second half of their quarterfinal clash during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a match Portugal eventually won on penalties. The incident though left an indelible mark on Ronaldo's tendency to be quite an irritant. That is --- if you're a fan of the Three Lions.





After the incident, Ronaldo feared of being castigated upon his return to Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. While he was booed during away matches, Ronaldo was adored at Old Trafford. He repayed this with more than 20 goals in all competitions last season. With his mazy runs and brilliant goal-scoring instincts, he played an important role in the Red Devils' recapture of the Premiership crown in the 2006-2007 season and its remarkable run in the Champions League and the FA Cup. His exploits earned him the EPL Player of the Year award.

Ronaldo got off to a bad start this season. He saw red in only the second match of the season against Portsmouth. The match ended at 1-all. Provoked, he allegedly head-butted Richard Hughes, prompting referee to flash a straight red card. The infraction came with an automatic 3-match ban.

But if Ronaldo had his moments of infamy, he also had a moment of unrivaled class. It happened last night when Man United defeated Ronaldo's former club, Sporting Lisbon, 1-0, in its opening Champions League match.



Ronaldo scored on a diving header from a Wes Brown cross in the 62nd minute.

His teammates, of course, savored the moment. But Ronaldo was subdued. He ditched his trademark emotion-packed celebration and made an apologetic gesture as he streaked through the goal-line infront of Sporting fans, the same people who embraced him when he was still an obscure teenager (Ronaldo transferred to Man Utd in 2003 for $12M).



When he was substituted four minutes from time, Sporting fans showed their appreciation for the 21-year-old Ronaldo, giving him a laud applause as he left the pitch.

The scenes were replayed several times. And it made me admire Ronaldo even more, because for all his football wizardry, Ronaldo's gesture illustrated the maturity and class worth emulating as a person. His humility epitomized the respect he had for a club that helped nurture and develop his talent.

The Joy of Kicks!

On a pock-marked pitch surrounded by school buildings that have seen better days, the ball darts to the direction of a crouching reed-thin boy, who protects the goal as if his life depended on it. He dives to his left in vain. As soon as he picks himself up, he shakes his head. Then, another ball finds the back of the tattered net, prompting him to stop and ponder --- as if he had learned a lesson.

He moves on to take on the next kicker. Five straight balls fly past him. But he is hardly daunted. And when he was able to palm a ball away, moments later, his eyes flutter while the rest of the muscles on his mud-tainted face are flexed to form a priceless smile. All these he does on one boot and minus goalkeeping gloves.


"The other boot is with him," he says, pointing to another kid still wearing his school uniform, who was lining up waiting for his turn for a shot on goal. For some reason, the kid doesn't use his boot-covered foot in kicking. "I'm not used to wearing two boots," the frail-looking boy says, before blasting the ball that sails just a few inches high above the goal.


On the other side of pitch, a group of boys listen intently to their instructor, ignoring the boisterous crowd of schoolchildren playing games under the eucalyptus tree. On this sun-kissed afternoon, the serious looks morph into smiles as skills improvement drills that breed individual panache get going.


A man in shorts and slippers saunters by, checking the progress of the training, wading through the knee-high blades of grass on the field that serves as a playground for school-children at midday. And when he's done, he moves to the area where the surface is level and the grass don't totally impede on the ball's roll, where another group of boys work on their speed and skill negotiating the aligned cones one meter apart.

The sun was setting when the boys wrap up another day of training. Water is unintentionally sprinkled on the ground when "ice water" is shared and thrown around.

The snapshots are taken from the Andres Bonifacio Elementary School pitch, the home of ABES FC, one of the emerging football clubs under the Negros Occidental Football Association.

"Football is our passion," says 12-year-old midfielder Mico Posadas when asked to introduce the team. Mico's statement may appear PR-polished. Behind his declaration though are countless stories of triumph and struggle since 2003 when the club was formed.

BITTER PILL

There was a time when playing football at the school was restricted. The directive came from a school official, who thought the sport posed great injury risk to the students' frail bodies.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for ABES FC coach Ulysses Rillos, a music and physical education teacher, who recalls begging on his knees and crying as the school official explained the decision.

"I had no choice but to follow the decision," Rillos recalls. He was concerned apparently because the club was just starting out, taking its baby steps.

That did not dampen the enthusiasm, though. When the official retired at the end of the school-year, Rillos, who played competitive football while he was studying at Domingo Lacson National High School, organized a summer football grassroots clinic at ABES with the help of NOFA that drew around 50 kids.

"We started to get the community involved," he says. Aside from students in the school, Rillos says he invited kids whom he felt were treading the path of lawlessness. He also saw it as a way to promote harmony among students of ABES I and ABES II at a time when clashes between young boys from the two schools were a regular sight.

"I saw it as a way for them to return to school, instill discipline and stop the fights," he says. But the task proved to be easier said than done as Rillos found difficulty convincing parents, who were hesitant because off the additional expenses in training.

When he was able to persuade parents, Rillos and the club faced another challenge: Pool resources for the team to compete in tournaments.

The club, though, did more than just raise funds. It also helped promote the sport in communities. "We cleaned communities in barangays 1, 2 and 3 so we could buy equipment and uniforms. We wanted to show that we are committed with our football," he says.

COMMITMENT

The commitment is typified by the four trainers in the team. Although they don't receive a single centavo for their services, Bongbong Gonzales, John Rey Alemani, Brian Tumbocon and Epi Carlo Tumbocon religiously train the players.

"We're doing it for the love of the game," says Gonzales, a former student of the school, who now works the night shift of the school's security office. In fact, Gonzales even helps ease the financial burden on the club's expenses Rillos.

Rillos says he feels overwhelmed each time he is asked why he is steering the club. "Because I am teacher I see this opportunity to mold children," he says.

Aside from NOFA which provided balls, organizational and training support and donated two goals to the club, a number of sponsors have also contributed to ABES FC's cause, particularly mail and package delivery service provider Air21, which gave uniforms to the team.

As in any other club, Rillos sees the emblazoned on their jerseys as a source of pride. The main elements of the logo are an eagle, a fireball and the three stars representing barangays 1, 2 and 3. "The eagle symbolizes freedom and strength, while the fireball depicts our never-say-die attitude," Rillos adds.

One of the youngest clubs in the NOFA roster, ABES FC has made a good account of itself with its grassroots program, prompting the provincial football body to name the club one of the two football centers for excellence in Bacolod, the other being the University of St. La Salle FC.

The move has paid off with ABES FC providing the Philippine boys' Under-13 team a goalkeeper in Bellmark Ortega, who saw action in the Asian Football Festival in Sabah, Malaysia in May. Ortega is now an athletic scholar at West Negros College, where he is a high school freshman.

"That's what we are trying to do here. Produce good players who can make use of their football skills so they can study for free," Rillos says.

YOUTUBE BOYS

One player who has shown immense potential is 12-year-old striker Joel Villacoguer, who, despite playing on old, borrowed spikes, led the team to the title in an Under-13 tournament at the University of St. La Salle recently.

Villacoguer together with his teammates have been looking for avenues to improve their skills on and off the pitch. One player, Adrian Jason, shares how YouTube, the popular video sharing, has helped in heightening their for the game

"We watch football skill drills and the latest videos of David Beckham there," Jason shares. "We try to copy the techniques".

If that wasn't proof of their devotion for the sport that has captivated the world, one can take a quick peek at the ABES FC headquarters during a random lunch break.

Players focused on fixing their boots, trainers busy printing the numbers on the players' kits and Rillos passionately recounting the evolution of the club's jerseys since 2004.

"We started with orange bibs and now we have these," Rillos says, referring to their newest kit, a replica of the 2007-2008 Barcelona FC jersey.

The evolution from bibs to jerseys characterizes the growth of the club, which now has close to 100 members from less than 50 during its first few years.

And Rillos says the core of the current team is actually a product of the grassroots program of the club.

With the influx of players comes more responsibilities for trainers but they seem to be more than happy to do their part.

"We're just happy to see how the club has grown," Gonzales adds.

He says trainers were forced to schedule practice based on the players' birth years because of the huge number of players.

"We cannot handle them all in just one session. At least, if they are divided into groups we can pay attention to each player," says Gonzales, who attended the NOFA coaches' clinic conducted by a Spanish mentor last May.

Rillos manages to add pun on the irony of having more players, despite the absence of resources including a well-maintained playing field.

"One practice, I told the boys to bring out their scissors so we could cut the grass together. I made it as part of the warm-up exercise. It turned out to be better than using a lawnmower, which would have cost us a considerable amount," he says with a laugh.

He adds that his wards play better when they are on a different field, like Panaad or USLS, where the field is level and the grass is manicured.

"Practicing in our field is an advantage for the players when they compete in tournaments outside the school. There's the motivation to play well because for them, playing in a good pitch is already a privilege," he adds.

While Rillos remains in a jovial mood as he entertains the visitor, Villacoguer puts adhesive on his borrowed boot, gluing together the sole and the upper layer that detached after yesterday's practice. He says he hopes to finally get a new boot someday.

The team logo posted on the door, photos of the squad in action and a 12x8 inch poster of Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho on top of the bulletin board provide a fitting backdrop to the scene, a testament of a club that has lacked in resources but was kept alive and kicking by its unrelenting passion.

"Winning is secondary to us. What is important is how we learn from the struggle and hardships as a club," Rillos says. *