AFC Asian Cup: ‘half-breed’ Pilipinas Azkals symbolise what it means to be Filipino, says former AFC official
- Miguel David says the nation was built on the mixing of blood going back more than a century
- The Azkals made their AFC Asian Cup debut with a 1-0 defeat by powerhouses South Korea
The Philippines, as a nation, was built on “half-breeds” and hopefully their football team can make the most of mixed-blood and “pure” talent to one day become an Asian power, says one local official.
On Monday, the Azkals made their AFC Asian Cup debut by stretching regional powers South Korea before losing 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates – a huge achievement by a team of largely overseas-based players with most them of mixed blood.
“It is a chicken-egg situation,” said Filipino Miguel David, a former Asian Football Confederation official now engaged in social development programmes through sport. “There is no wrong or right, the most important thing is to love the game and the people you meet through it.
“Nobody should have a false sense of entitlement. My country was built by the half-breeds, even politically. I am half-breed. Because half-breeds crave that both sides embrace each other,” said David, who is half Chinese.
All the players who started against South Korea at the Rashid Al-Maktoum Stadium on Monday have at least one non-Filipino parent, with defender Alvaro Silva’s connection to the Philippines through his grandmother on his father’s side. The others have roots in countries such as Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Japan.
The issue of mixed Filipinos came to the fore last month when 24-year-old Catriona Gray, who is Australian-Filipino, won the Miss Universe contest – sparking debate in the country about ethnicity, with her defenders saying no one in the Philippines can claim to be of “true blood” because of a history of mixed marriages going back more than a century.
“The Philippines has a lot of social problems right now, we’re not unique. We’re still a generally hand-to-mouth country with a low savings rate,” said David, whose role at the AFC was to take care of the body’s futsal programme.
