I first met Dan Palami early 2010 right after a UAAP football game at the Erenchun Field inside the Ateneo de Manila campus. The Philippine men’s national team was due to practice under head coach Des Bulpin. I knew one of Bulpin’s assistants, Diding Cabalida, who was coaching the Ateneo high school team at that time.
Coach Diding introduced me to Des and the team’s new manager, Dan Palami.
I remember asking what his goals were as team manager. This is what he said then: “I have simple goals in these first few years – to build a competitive national team, to become competitive in the Suzuki Cup, and well, to try our hand at the qualifiers of the World Cup. That’s it for now and we’ll take it from there.”
“Oh,” he added with a pause for effect. “I would like to see our rankings in FIFA go up.”
It would be easy to say the man is on something and unrealistic. However, that thought never crossed my mind notwithstanding all the previous results. Besides, no national team manager prior to him said that. He must have a plan, I thought to myself.
At that time of that conversation, I was banned by the Philippine Football Federation’s then-president Mari Martinez from covering the team for my reports about irregularities in local football’s governing body.
By November 2010, that changed when he was able to secure sponsorship of Gatorade for the national team through me as I was working as its marketing communications manager.
Martinez rang up Dan and asked if I could go with the team to the Suzuki Cup in Vietnam as its media officer. I refused as I didn’t provide the Gatorade sponsorship to get something in return. But Dan said, it’s all right. “Besides, you could be our lucky charm.”
Everyone knows how the Azkals fared in that biennial tournament. More importantly, how it lit a fire and changed Philippine football forever.
Me a lucky charm? Of course, not. But Dan, the man with the plan? Oh, yeah!
Dan was like Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise. He boldly took the Azkals and Philippine football to where no one has gone before.
From being bundled out of the Tiger/Suzuki Cup in the qualifiers to making the semi-finals and making the Azkals feared by teams from the Southeast Asian if not the Asian region.
The team was like traveling rock stars promoting the game, soaking up huge experience, and also attracting the best of the Filipino diaspora.
The team was winning and giving a good account of themselves in competitions.
Even his own football club, Global FC, made huge inroads in international club competition.
Prior to the Azkals' explosion in 2010, there were hardly any new investors with sports. With Philippine football’s success, there were new sponsors coming in.
The United Football League and UAAP football were beneficiaries of the Azkals’ success and windfall. In the UAAP, it went from college newspaper reporters and me covering the games to national coverage.
Football was so big that David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy played the national team in an exhibition match at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
It is easy to say that players make the team go and he did have the Younghusband brothers in their prime along with many others who will go down as legends of the Philippine game. But Dan’s efforts to improve the team, its training experiences, coaches, and influence, that stems from his vision. His willingness to go out of the team’s comfort zone and even to place himself in the firing line.
The fact that he was cheered as vociferously as the players means people know. They know what he has done.
As Palami has stepped down to give new PFF president John Gutierrez free reign in moving the national team forward, I thought that Dan has more than given his time, money, headaches and blood pressure to this team and Philippine football longer than any federation president, team manager, coach, and most players.
And I go back to that conversation we had 15 years ago.
Build a competitive national team. Check.
To be competitive in the Suzuki Cup and other competitions. Check.
To participate in the qualifiers of the World Cup. Check.
To go up the FIFA rankings. From #195 to #111? Oh, yeah. Check. Check. Check.
Take a bow, Dan Palami. You did us great.
Now here’s to the PFF taking it from here. To there.
(Rick Olivares served as the PFF's media officer in 2008, 2010-12.)