Men behind the Azkals: 'Strict si Coach Weiss'

“Sleep, eat, drink, relax, train – this should be your lifestyle when you’re playing football," says Coach Michael Weiss while shaking his head. Some of his players haven’t been 100 percent in practice due to other commitments. Right before their afternoon session, he had to pull out his boys from the media and the fans so they can concentrate on training. “Strict si Coach Weiss sa pitch. Ayaw niya ng may nagi-interview at nagpapa-picture during training," says team coordinator Ace Bright. Coach Weiss also doesn’t like unnecessary breaks. If he wants you to run a kilometer, you better have finished that kilometer before you stop and rest. You can’t blame the man though for being so demanding. He’s been coaching for 14 years and he knows what it takes to build a successful football team. Taking over Simon McMenemy While so many Filipinos were lauding former Azkals coach Simon McMenemy for bringing the team to its win over Vietnam last year, Weiss believes that he can handle the job better. “I have lots of experience [in coaching]. Simon was a good coach but he’s very young," he says. Weiss is coaching both from experience and from education. He studied Sports Science in the University of Mainz, and even took a Master's degree in Physical Education. Aside from that, the German coach also played in Aufenbach and Vespar as a goalkeeper. If that isn’t enough to boost his credentials, he’s also been coaching for over a decade now. He has handled various teams such as pro-club Kyoto Sanga, China’s U-20 and U-23 teams, and more recently, the Rwanda U-17 team. However, this is his first time to coach a national team. “It’s a challenge. You’ve got a country of 92 million people, and of course you want to make them happy," he says.

Azkals in the World Cup? Weiss is staying in the Philippines for about three to four years. In that span of time, the goal really is to put back the country on the football map. “We have the talent and the potential, but it’s still early to tell [whether we’ll make it to the World Cup in a few years or not]," he admits. With a handful of veterans and professional players on his squad, Weiss says that they still cannot relax. The self-confessed strict coach himself says that his “training program is intense." Goalkeeper Paolo Pascual can’t help but agree. “Coach Weiss trains us very hard and tried to get the best out of us every practice session. There’s no room for error in trainings with Coach Weiss," says Pascual. Fireworks and Filipino culture Weiss confesses that he was a bit surprised at the very warm welcome they received in Bacolod for the Mongolia match. He knew that football was unpopular in the basketball-crazed archipelago after all. “That’s probably my fondest experience so far with the Azkals. I saw the feeling of love between the people and the team," he recalls. “And then there were fireworks after we won, very Filipino," he says, adding that he’s growing accustomed to Filipino culture after staying here for several weeks. In fact, Weiss wants to build football academy in the Philippines once he retires in about 15 years from now. Not your regular stoic German Unlike the stereotypical "I-don’t-care-about-other-people-I’m-just-gonna-be-quiet-here" German, Weiss is a very warm and mellow off the pitch. He’s actually sort of a father figure to the players, especially to those whose families aren’t here in Manila. He makes sure the boys are all in good shape not just physically, but also emotionally and mentally. “There are too many distractions in this city. Of course as members of the national team, the players also have a responsibility to the youth. They can’t just go to a bar and get drunk or something like that. People look up to them in this city," says the 46-year-old mentor. Perhaps, the fatherly instinct gets intensified by the fact that Weiss has two young girls of his own whom he left back in Germany. “I miss my family, but my wife and daughters will come here also to watch our match versus Sri Lanka," he says excitedly. Pascual quips that their coach is a fun guy to hang out with, saying “he jokes and gets along with everyone off the pitch as well." Even then, Coach Weiss has distinctly put the line between work and play. After sharing a few laughs with some of the players after training, he returns into his professional coach mode. “Training 7a.m. tomorrow, don’t be late!" he tells his players in that familiar authoritative voice. At that, the players hurriedly wrapped their interviews with various media outfits and took final photos with their fans. They know their 6-footer veteran coach means it when he says don’t be late. And that’s probably just what the Azkals need if they’re serious about making it to the World Cup. -- OMG, GMA News