We all know how important it is to get behind the team. And for us to achieve that, it is equally important for us to know who we're rooting for and why. Join us in Wazzup Wednesdays to talk about the warriors currently fighting for the nation.
On this edition of Wazzup Wednesdays, we have a player who has made important contributions to both club and country. After being raised away from homeland, he has returned. At it looks like he's staying. We ask, wazzup with Mike Ott?
We're talking about Mike Rigoberto Gelito Ott, or better known as Mike Ott of the Azkals.
Mike is the younger brother of Manny Ott who, in his own right, made a name for himself donning the stars and sun as part of the Azkals. Both are sons of a Filipino mother and a German father. You just can't miss the similarities between the brothers.
Ott's Filipino roots hail from Boracay, but he was born in Munich. Here, he started his youth career at TSV 1860 Munich and made his debut in 2012. He scored 12 goals in 25 games for Munich II before signing a three-year deal with Nürnberg in April 2014, playing for Nürnberg's second team.
Being exposed to high-level football while in Germany, he decided to bring his game to the Philippines, joining his brother, Manny.
It was in late September 2016 when he was called up by American coach Thomas Dooley for the October international friendly matches against Bahrain and North Korea as part of their preparation for the 2016 Suzuki Cup.
He made his debut against Bahrain, coming on as a half-time substitute for Kevin Ingreso and scored the Philippines' only goal within five minutes as they lost 3–1.
He had continued his professional career inalso plied his trade for Angthong F.C. of the Thai League 2 in 2017 before moving to his current team, Ceres-Negros. It was here where he reunited with his brother, Manny, who is also a player of Ceres-Negros.
Following largely successful seasons with Ceres, everything was put on hold when the pandemic struck. And now, a new challenge for the club emerges as rumors started to surround the club's future amid the COVID-19 dilemma that affected billions worldwide.
Although there is this looming challenge of how things would be in the new normal, we here at The Six-Yard Box are confident that we will be seeing Mike and the rest of the Ceres squad real soon. And we, too, believe that Philippine football is not far behind.
“In the Philippines it’s all about basketball,” says Mike from an old ABS-CBN interview “But football could have a lot of potential here if only the players had better options.”
We believe int the potential of Filipino booters, wherever they may have come from. What matters is they are here. And here we will be for them.
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