The general view of this article is that Football is a fantasy game that we poor, impatient, and colonial mentality Filipinos cannot play.
Filipinos should embrace football because it is the sport for us. We are not tall. Height is not in our genetics. Football does not bias on height. Someone as short as a ten year old kid could play football and be good at it. Filipinos are also fast. Since majority of our population is of thin to moderate stature, we do not have anything hindering us from running towards the goal and scoring. Filipinos are good with their feet. We can pick stuff up with our feet, what more kick a ball? Football is all about the feet. Filipinos are hard-headed. Football is also about the head. Having a hard head can help score a header in a game. Filipinos are ingenious and creative. If there is no field, play on an empty street. If there are no goal posts, mark out something on the street with a walis or even just score into a trash can. Filipinos can take football into their own hands and environment and just play. It does not matter if you do not have expensive shoes or a grassy field, all that matters is the determination to play or the will to have fun.
Football is a simple sport. The only time a normal person plays in a 21 man, expensive shoe, two hour football game is if he is playing it competitively and professionally. Football can be played between two people. A pair of friends can spend the afternoon juggling, doing tricks, or trying to kick the ball into a makeshift goal for minutes up to hours. The simplicity of football is that all you need is a ball, your feet, and some imagination. Filipinos don’t like overly complicated things. Football is simple. You just have to find a way.
In conclusion, I do hope Filipinos would stop have a negative or defeatist attitude towards football. We Filipinos have the capacity to do great things. It just takes determination and will to get things done.
Side note: I am one of those “knowledgeable players from exclusive schools”, and every time football is the assigned sport of our P.E. class, I smile a little bit because even though I am one of the worst basketball, baseball, or even volleyball players out there; I know that I can at least have fun in football. All you need are a ball, your feet, and your imagination.
