This is not about politics. Or at least I’ll try my best not to make it as such. Whenever I hear the word yellow, my thoughts take me back somewhere, where things were pleasant and warm, where peace of mind is just an arm stretch away, when life was simple and happiness is not a complex matter. It is also the title of one of the iconic songs during the early 2000s.
But last Tuesday, yellow became the exact opposite of what is pleasant and nice, at least for The Designated Kit Man. It became an annoyance. A symbol of nuisance. A card of frustration, anger, disappointment and to some extent, an injustice not only for me, but most football fans, at least for those rooting for the three stars and the sun. While the Philippine National Men’s Football Team (PNMFT) salvaged a 2-2 draw against a visiting Tajikistan side, the flurry of yellow cards given, mostly against our favor, took the joy out of what could have been a great night for more than 10,000 fans, who showed up at the New Clark Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
Bjorn Kristensen gave the Philippines an early lead in the 28th minute, but the visitors pounced on an error by Kevin Ray Mendoza to equalize. A questionable penalty awarded to Tajikistan gave them the lead 12 minutes later.
“The referees were also the worst I’ve ever experienced in the last year and the AFC has to do something about this nonsense as the penalty was clearly not one,” an obviously disappointed Freddy Gonzalez, PNMFT team manager, said after the game.
Fortunately, Kristensen completed his brace in the 79th minute for what turned out to be the final score and a hard-earned draw for the home team.
“It was a game that we should’ve won 100%. We pretty much controlled the whole game but we lost concentration for a second and made three mistakes in a row that led to the goal. Tajikistan rarely threatened us, but we gave them hope after that score,” fumed Gonzalez.
While a draw is better than losing the game, we could have taken the full three points. The team was the better one during the match, but then again, a few followed a lousy script and stuck to it for more than 90 minutes. They don’t deserve to be named. Baka sumikat pa.
“Most horrible officials I’ve ever encountered and that’s saying a lot cause we have had a number of really bad officiating. The semifinal in Bangkok comes to mind, but this was way worse than that,” Gonzalez added.
With the draw, the Philippines can no longer afford to commit mistakes if it really wants to top Group A in the 3rd round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers. Only the group winners will advance further in the tournament.
“Doesn’t change anything as we are still at the top of the group, but we missed a golden opportunity. We now focus on East Timor,” Gonzalez said.
As it stands, the Philippines needs to win its games against Timor Leste (on October 9 and October 14) and repeat over Maldives in an away-game on November 18. A win against Tajikistan on March 31, 2026 could seal a seat in the finals for the Philippines.
“We were ok until we started to relax and lose focus and our mistakes once again led to a free goal for the opponent. This is something we will continue to work on in training. It’s all down to focus and concentration,” Gonzalez added.
I can’t remember the last time our team played wherein calls were made and handed out due to fairness and what is obvious. Please make me remember. Otherwise and unless the AFC will do something about these game officials, we should expect more “yellows” in the future. And with a number of our players booked with yellows, another infraction on their part would mean suspension in succeeding games.
Three nights ago, it was definitely not the color that we all wanted to see, but it rained so much yellow that Tuesday evening. We can rant, but we can’t blame lousy game officiating for any unfavorable results. Moreover, we can’t put the team’s fate in others’ hands, we need to win games convincingly whatever the cards’ colors are.
Gonzalez, however, put it in a perspective.
“In the end, the referee isn’t the reason why we drew. It was due to our loss of concentration and mistakes. At this level, you get punished,” he said.
I said earlier that this is not about politics, but somehow I should have been more specific. This piece is about politics, after all. Politics in football in which the Philippines is always on the losing end of the stick — where the team’s valiant efforts to rise over all distractions, noise and yet another coaching change, were reduced into nothing but the annoying whistle of someone who is either incompetent, blind or playing politics while pretending to officiate a game.
“They really don’t like us. I’ve experienced referees from the big ASEAN countries, Japan, Australia, Iran, Korea, etc and they’re all horrible. They make unfair calls and always give the opponent an advantage. How does a referee call a 50/50 penalty, which clearly wasn’t on the home team?,” Gonzalez asked.
It has been the norm of late, but this should stop soon. Any color, whether yellow or red, is an injustice if made not because of a clear violation or infraction, but because of politicizing the beautiful game.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat
