Paulino Alcantara: The unsung hero in Philippine football

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. . . he was and will always be a Filipino.

That's right boys and girls. Barcelona FC's all-time top scorer is none other than, Paulino Alcantara, a filipino.

Paulino Alcantara was born in Iloilo, Philippines on October 7, 1896. At age 15, he began to play for the Barcelona after he was scouted. He ended his debut game with three goals, which earned him the nickname of "net breaker". Now, isn't that something? I always knew that Filipinos had something in their blood. Haha. Joking aside, Paulino was able to retire from football with 357 goals in 357 games. It's like a one is to one ratio. He then moved on to become a doctor, and then a club director for his club team

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I first heard of this "unknown legend" back when I was still in High School. I can remember my brother bragging to me about this filipino football player who was supposedly the first asian to play in a European club. Anyway, at first, I did not believe him. I though he was joking but when I searched the internet for some information about Paulino, what welcomed me was an array of websites dedicated to him. There was also a video tribute to him, from his nephew.

This incident had a particularly good effect on me as my earlier thoughts on why the Philippines couldn't make it big in the international level of football disappeared and what replaced them was a sense of hopefulness. If one of us was able to make it, why can't we do it again?

It's good that Paulino had come from Iloilo because if he had not been born there he might not have been fully exposed to and influenced by football. He might not have pursued football as other sports were rampant in the other parts of the Philippines. Until now,even though football is more widespread, basketball is still more influential.

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Sports in the Visayan region is a different story - especially in Iloilo, where football players are like weeds.

Anyway, Paulino Alcantara will always be an inspiration to both old and new football players, no matter where they may be. It would be good to see the Philippines use his name to build up the football scene. If only he were alive today, we could might just be able to "David Beckam" the Philippines with one of our own.