Simone rota completes comeback

The Philippine Azkals made history anew when the team qualified for the very first time to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after a nail-biting come-from-behind victory over Tajikistan, thanks to the winning penalty kick goal in the 90th minute, his 50th international goal, by Philip Younghusband, who for a long time, together with brother James, have been the faces of Philippine football in its Renaissance.

But no, this piece will not be on the Younghusbands even as they deserve a lot of credit for the resurgence in Philippine football more than 10 years ago when we qualified in the prestigious AFC Suzuki Cup. Those were the heydays of the Azkals, composed mostly of Fil-foreign players who were either recruited to play for the national team or on their own, tried their luck after learning of the growing popularity of the sport in the Philippines.

As Phil himself said it, even as he played the hero’s role in that historic win against Tajikistan fashioned before the eyes of local fans at the Rizal memorial football field, there were others he paid tribute to, one of them, the subject of my piece now, he was referring to Simone Rota who played a key role on the defense side, and it is Simone that I would like to talk about.

I met this guy personally and I was impressed not just with his skills on the field, honed by his exposure to European football during his younger days when he played as a professional for Division 2 teams in the region. It is his off-the-field traits that are even more impressive. I hope, you get the opportunity to watch the documentary movie about him, Journeyman Finds Home, The Simone Rota Story produced and directed by my old friend Albert Almendralejo who has been involved in grassroots football for quite some time now.

I personally met Simone in Baguio when he was one of the Azkals tapped by Albert to help conduct football clinics in the provinces under the PRU Life -backed Football For A Better Life, which unfortunately was dropped by the sponsor to the disappointment of football people in the provinces. And the guy is for real, his love for football comes from the heart, same with his desire to help kids on and off the football field. At that time, he was just recuperating from an ACL injury he suffered in a game for which he underwent a procedure.

Do not be fooled by his name which sounds very foreign. After all, he was just a baby when he was adopted by an Italian couple from Milan and Simone grew up there an Italian in everything except his looks. If you meet him on the street, what you will see is a Filipino for that is what he is. The truth is, when he decided to go to the Philippines in his late 20’s, it was his wish to see both his biological mother and his native land.

And when he got an invitation to play for the Laguna Stallions in the commercial football league that emerged from the growing popularity of football, he made a decision easily and found out that he liked being here. The documentary film on him would show the efforts he exerted to find his real mother, as he said, just to ask why he was left behind in an orphanage, Buklod Kalinga, in Paranaque.

It was the same orphanage where he went to touch base with the sisters who took care of him and see the current children housed there. He ended up staying there for some time, helping the orphanage from his personal resources and from his friends, inter-acting with the kids there, even cooking meals for them, to the point that a young girl there really believes Simone is her father.

The disappointment was that he failed in his quest to find his biological mother but has accepted that already, the same way that he has accepted the Philippines as his real country, and he has decided to settle down here for good with his step-parents’ blessings.

When he saw action in the league, it became a natural conclusion that he would end up with the Azkals and he did, until he got hit by the injury and had to sit it out for the procedure and the painful therapy that he had to go through. His inspiration — the orphanage kids who had much less than what he had but were still struggling to improve their lives.

That is the other thing I admire about Simone, his determination to get back to the game he loves, and get back he did, signing up with the Davao Aguilas which welcomed him. And what he could contribute to the team in terms of leadership and experience, again, it was a matter of time that the Azkals got him back on the team and so it came to pass that Simone was part of the team that beat Tajikistan recently, and he looks forward to playing in the Asian Cup next year.

There are a lot more stories and tidbits about this guy, but the best is for you to catch up on his movie and maybe shed a tear or two.