A FEW DAYS ago an item or story was posted on social and mainstream media which showed the bias, malicious intent and stupidity of the people who did it. Of course it also confirmed their total ignorance of the “beautiful game” or the world’s most popular sport…the game of football.
It does not come as a surprise as most natives of these islands are totally ignorant of football including that nincompoop Noynoy Aquino who cannot tell the difference between “midfielders” and “middle age”.
And I’ll just let this sink in…
During the courtesy call of the “Azkals” in Malacañang the conversation of course was about football and President Noynoy Aquino was asked what he thought about the performance of the midfielders as he claimed to have watch their AFC Suzuki Cup matches and this, they said, was his reply: “Age should not be a hindrance, even our senior citizens can still be productive.”
The usual suspects were trying to put a malicious spin to embarrass President Rodrigo Duterte when ASEAN leaders were given commemorative jerseys at the MoU signing between ASEAN and FIFA, the international football governing body.
Here’s what really happened minus the malicious spin of local media; excerpts from the Nov. 3, 2019 issue of www.nationthailand.com/news:
FIFA, ASEAN sign MoU with eye on co-hosting 2034 World Cup
Leaders and delegates from 10 ASEAN nations witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on football collaboration with world football body FIFA after the 35th ASEAN Summit on Saturday (Nov. 2) at Impact Forum, Muang Thong Thani.
The MoU was signed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and ASEAN secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi.
The MoU aims to promote football in ASEAN at the regional and local levels in four aspects: sports integrity, sports for development, FIFA’s Football for Schools Programme, and professional capacity building, as well as the ambition of ASEAN nations applying to co-host the World Cup in 2034. After the ceremony, FIFA president presented blue soccer jerseys to the ASEAN leaders and delegates with their numbers and their names on the back.
Seven leaders, including Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, received No. 9 jerseys, which is usually assigned to players in forward position, equivalent to their serving as prime ministers. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte got No. 10 jerseys, signifying team captain, in keeping with their status as head of state. Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the No. 21 jersey, as Indonesia will be hosting the Under-20 World Cup in 2021.
In the news video of that event, the FIFA president was giving commemorative No. 9 jerseys to all prime ministers and when he came to President Duterte he had to wait for the No. 10 jersey to be brought up stage as only two leaders were given that number jersey.
But the usual suspects quickly pounced on that short gap, giving the impression that President Duterte was not given a commemorative jersey showing their total ignorance of the special significance of the No. 10 jersey in football culture.
For the idiots and all the “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon”, this is what the No.10 jersey means in football culture:
“10” is one of the most emblematic squad numbers in football due to the sheer number of football legends that used the No. 10 shirt; playmakers, second strikers and attacking midfielders usually wear this number.
One number that was kept reserved for the best player in the team since the 1950s was the No. 10. Position wise, this number was associated with a second striker that later got anointed as an attacking midfielder and also as a trequartista or playmaker in some formations.
Whatever may be the role, the footballing world has seen the best players ever to grace the field don the No. 10 jersey for either their club or country or both.
The Jersey number 10 is now worn exclusively by the greatest players. The soccer scoreboards showed that it was worn by the legends of the game, Pele, Maradona, Zidane to name a few, and now it is worn by Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Rooney etc.
Take note that President Rodrigo Duterte was given a No. 10 commemorative jersey and for us footballers’ retired or active, and knowledgeable football fans, the No. 10 jersey is a great honor.
If it were that nincompoop Noynoy Aquino I’m quite certain the number on his commemorative jersey would be – 0 or minus zero. So there. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
