2 November 2005 – Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe J. Lhullier bid farewell to Filipino-Italian athlete, Mr. Filippo Braggio of San Remon in northern Italy, who will fly to Manila early this month in order to join his teammates in the Philippine national football team who are training for the upcoming SEA Games.

According to Ambassador Lhullier Mr. Filippo “Pippo” Braggio will surely make Filipinos as well as Italians proud as he dons the Philippine national colors in his first international competition. He is the first Filipino-Italian athlete to participate in the country’s national team. “Pippo” who is now 18 years old, has been under professional training in football since he was five, joining training camps with European football luminaries such as AC Milan, Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC; and has played for the past three years in the semi-pro teams of Sanremese and Arma di Taggia’s SS Argentina in northern Italy.

Ambassador Lhullier explained that a Filipino newsletter with distribution all over Italy, Ako Ay Pilipino, published an article on the young Braggio’s soccer prowess and this caught the attention of the Philippine Football Federation in drafting him as a potential talent.

The young athlete flew to Manila last June for official try-outs in Manila, through the mediation of the Philippine Embassy and Saudia Airlines. Jose Ariston Caslib, national football coach, was impressed with his performance and endorsed his recruitment into the Philippine football team. For his part, “Pippo” Braggio said “we should not lose focus on the real objective, to win for the Philippines, and we will work very hard in Bacolod to make this happen”.

Mr. Juan Miguel Romualdez, President of the Philippine Football Federation expressed his gratitude and support for the growing cooperation between Philippine embassies and Philippine sports entities, since promising talent from second generation of Filipino communities abroad is scouted and referred to them.  END