A #10KStrong Kind of night at the Cathedral of PH Football

Photo credits: The Philippine Football Federation

When the Philippine Football Federation came up with a campaign to fill the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium to the rafters, the Filipinos didn't disappoint and showed the might of more than 10,000 people in attendance for the Philippines' opening match in the joint 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam and despite a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the visitors, the love of the Filipino football fans for the Azkals may have just been revived.

Brimming with hope and a revised system, the Azkals went out to the pitch looking to produce a mammoth performance against arguably the best side in Southeast Asian football over the last few years and despite the huge task at hand, the lads in white showed they can dance with the big boys again while undergoing a rejuvenation of its system.

It is a known fact that over the past few years, the Philippine Azkals have taken a huge dip in form causing massive outrage from the fans who, most of the time, compared the success achieved by their counterparts in the women's national football team. Who can blame them, though? Both the men's and the women's national teams saw a meteoric rise in their history in different timelines.

The Azkals revived the country's interest in football after that miraculous night in Hanoi back in 2010, solidified its following after a string of success against the region's powerhouse squads and that glorious night against Tajikistan in 2018 where, even the calmest of guys in Cedelf Tupas, yelled during the broadcast and was at a lost for words when Phil Younghusband buried that goal which sent the Philippines to its maiden appearance in the AFC Asian Cup.

While all of these are happening, the Filipinas are silently crawling out of their cave and into the spotlight. From kicking off Project Jordan, to qualifying for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, then qualifying for the World Cup. Oh, don't forget about bringing the country's maiden silverware after a masterclass in the 2022 AFF Women's Championship

Unfortunately for the Azkals, they weren't able to ride these waves of success and might've plateaued coincidentally at the time the Filipinas already found their footing. Over the last three years, the Philippine Azkals have been on a quest to revive the interest of the Filipino people and hope that one would turn its other eye slightly away from the Filipinas and onto their path.

From hiring different high-level coaches to bringing in top-class players from overseas, the Azkals tried to do whatever was possible to bring back the people's support. However, unbeknownst to the national squad, a man has been plotting a campaign that would put the butts to the seats of the Rizal Memorial Stadium once again.

Photo credits: The Philippine Football Federation

After the General Secretary role in the PFF had been vacated, the Philippines Football League Commissioner Mikhail "Coco" Torre was tasked to take the reigns on short notice and with a very short tenure.

As the PFF Extraordinary Congress will convene on the 25th of November where a new set of officials for the PFF will be elected, Torre only had two months to work with and carry out his projects for the betterment of football in the country and he knew he had to exert his efforts in the first window of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers as a stepping stone to growing football in the country once again.

"Upon my appointment as GS, I wanted to already long long-term plans for Philippine football but understood that my two-month term would not be enough to achieve such. I just looked for any short-term goal that is tangible and can be achieved. So I said, let's fill up the Rizal Memorial Stadium," said Torre.

His call to arms? #10KStrong. A campaign that hoped to bring 10,000 football fans back to the Rizal Memorial Stadium to support the Philippine Azkals just like in old times. His action plans? He helped out grassroots football communities by providing complimentary tickets as he knew that bringing in the crowd again would require some investments and so he did it the right way.

He also knew they had to create a festive atmosphere around the stadium. He even went to the heights of talking to the Ultras Filipinas, the die-hard supporters of the national team and also its toughest critics, to bring in its numbers, their chants, and their colorful banners inside the stadium.

The result? 10,378 fans inside the cathedral of Philippine Football. Though many would say that a good amount of traveling fans were also part of that number, one can't simply ignore the fact that the Filipinos' support for the Azkals has been reignited. After the final whistle had blown and amidst the bowed heads of the players because of their disappointment of not being able to turn up for the home crowd, the fans still made it a point that they were heard, that they were supporting this squad again, and that despite the result, the fans will continue to support them.

Photo credits: The Philippine Football Federation

Torre said, "The number of fan attendance in the stadium that night was no accident. We put our neck on the line with a very ambitious goal, so our actions from the time we announced the campaign until the matchday were geared towards reaching this objective." He also added, "This vision was guided with a good strategy, which we followed to the dot. And we all saw the results."

There's one more match in this window on the 21st of November against Indonesia where the fans are more needed to close this window out with a victory so we can only hope that the turnout would be the same, if not, an even better number of attendance against a nation we could say our rivals.

Regardless of the number of fans that will flock to the Rizal Memorial Stadium on the 21st of November, the only hope of every Filipino football fan is to see this momentum trickle down to the local club football scene, however, Gen. Sec. Torre knows everybody has to work hard for it. He said, "The local league is a different scenario. For us to fill the stadium, the clubs need to dive deep and connect with their community and it is much more challenging than convincing your countrymen to support the national team."