THERE was a familiar animated figure on the bench of the Philippine Azkals in their international friendly matches against Bahrain and North Korea, respectively, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium a week ago.
Emelio “Chieffy” Caligdong was back not as a player but as an assistant coach of American mentor Thomas Dooley as the national team girds for the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup kicking off next month.
In his last Suzuki Cup outing in 2012, the fleet-footed winger was a “super sub,” scoring the winning goal in the Philippines’ pulsating 1-0 win over Vietnam in the group stage at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The thrilling triumph secured the country’s third straight passage into the semifinals of Southeast Asia’s men’s football championship.
It proved to be an outstanding year for Caligdong, 34, who was cited in 2012 as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men awardees by the Philippine Jaycees, a rare accomplishment for an athlete.
“He (Caligdong) is a perfect fit,” noted Dooley of his new deputy. “Chieffy used to be one of them while the younger players look up to and respect him as a former player so that is good for me. They are familiar with him. What the players cannot tell me directly they can certainly tell him.”
Skipper Phil Younghusband, who was with Caligdong when the Nationals made their maiden semifinal appearance in the Suzuki Cup in 2010, also gave the thumbs-up to his former teammate’s appointment.
“Chieffy will be an asset for the Azkals because of his stature as a former player and the young players certainly look up to him,” Younghusband pointed out.
Dooley bared that one of Caligdong’s assignments was the conditioning of his charges “so he may be a bit overeager at times because he wants to show us what he’s got. So I advise him not to overdo it but do what’s best for them.”
The Barotac Nuevo pride felt honored, excited “but pressured at the same time. I used to play with some of them. As a coach, I have to put a ‘border,’ a little distance between them and myself.”
He expressed admiration for Dooley “because he is generous in sharing his knowledge. Hindi maramot si coach Thomas.”
As their relationship grows, Dooley said that he would be gathering more inputs from Caligdong “because I don’t just don’t want him to putting up our (training) cones. I don’t always see everything in the field so it’s good to have another pair of sharp eyes out there.”
Caligdong was sad that his coaching debut wound up with a pair of 1-3 setbacks to the Bahrainis and North Koreans, although he was confident that given more time together the Azkals would be able to play more cohesively.
He noted the weaknesses in the backline against the two foreign squads, after which he revealed that Dooley would be eyeing more recruits both locally and overseas to bolster the national team’s defense.
Caligdong was optimistic that given the depth of the Azkals’ present talent, the Filipino booters would be able to achieve what he could not as player: reach the Suzuki Cup finals for the first time.
“We have a lot of talent now and we are playing on our home grounds I don’t see why we cannot reach the finals,” he said. “Once we achieve that, it will be another milestone for Philippine football.”