Emelio "Chieffy" Asada Caligdong (born September 28, 1982) is a Filipino

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. He is currently the head coach of the Ontario Development League Boys under-15 team, and also an assistant coach for

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ho ...

's under-13 team. Caligdong played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the Philippines national team, of which he is a former captain. At the club level, he played for

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forc ...

and

Green Archers United Green Archers United Futbol Club, formerly known as Alabang Grins Futbol Club, was a Filipino professional association football club based in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The team last played in the 2019 season of the Philippines Football Le ...

of the United Football League. At that time, he was also an enlisted member of the

. After retiring, he coached Green Archers United, the Philippines' youth teams, and the

Perpetual Altas Perpetual, meaning " eternal", may refer to: Christianity * Perpetual curacy, a type of Christian priesthood in Anglicanism * Perpetual virginity of Mary, one of the four Marian dogmas in Catholicism Finance *Perpetual bond, a bond that pay ...

Early life

Emelio Asada Caligdong was born on 28 September 1982. in

Pototan, Iloilo Pototan ( krj, Banwa ka Pototan, hil, Banwa sang Pototan, tgl, Bayan ng Pototan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,298 people. The town lies on the ba ...

. He first played football when he was five years old and was encouraged by his brother Roberto to play the sport who was a member of the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

and the national team. Caligdong was more known by his nickname "Chieffy" due to his grandfather being the police chief of his hometown of

Barotac Nuevo Barotac Nuevo, officially the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo ( hil, Banwa sang Barotac Nuevo, tgl, Bayan ng Barotac Nuevo), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

. As early as his elementary school years, he represented Western Visayas in the

Palarong Pambansa The Palarong Pambansa (Filipino language, Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from 17 regions of the Philippines. The event, started in 1948, is organized and governed by the Department of Ed ...

Club career

Calogdong is a long time player of Philippine Air Force F.C. and was an enlisted member of the air force. He played for the club in the United Football League until 2012. He moved to another UFL club,

in January 2013. Caligdon had a chance to play for another club when in January 2015, Cebu-based UC-ERCO Bro Nationals attempted to acquire service of several UFL players including himself through a loan for their stint at the

2014–15 PFF National Men's Club Championship The 2014–15 PFF National Men's Club Championship (also known as 2014–15 PFF–Smart National Club Championship) was the 4th season of the PFF National Men's Club Championship, a Filipino association football competition organized by the Phil ...

finals. However the UFL blocked the loan move and insisted that players from the UFL can't play for other clubs even in competitions hosted by the Philippine Football Federation. The UFL insists that if Caligdong and other loaned players by ERCO suited for the club they can't return to their mother club. This is after other UFL teams complained the loaning of players from Green Archers United.

International career

Caligdong made his debut in the

2004 Tiger Cup The 2004 AFF Championship (officially known as the 2004 Tiger Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), and the last time und ...

, playing all four matches and scoring three goals. Two of those goals came in the 89th and 92nd minute in the 2–1 win over

Timor-Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

, making it the first ever victory of the Philippines in the

ASEAN Football Championship The ASEAN Football Federation Championship (less formally the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reason, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football ...

. He has also played for the Philippines U-23 at the

2005 Southeast Asian Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991 S ...

and in the pre-SEA Games tournament where he scored against

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and

. On the first match of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in the Qualifying playoff round of the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw eight teams advance to the final tournament in Nepal. The qualification draw was held on 20 October 2010, in AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Seeding The seedings are based on the 2010 AFC Cha ...

against

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, Caligdong scored a goal in the 43rd minute. On September 30, 2011, Caligdong scored two goals in a draw against

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and two more goals on October 4 against

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

in the

2011 Long Teng Cup The 2011 Long Teng Cup () was the 2nd staging of the Long Teng Cup, an international football competition held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The tournament took place from 30 September to 4 October 2011. Competing teams The 2011 staging of the competiti ...

. Caligdong, who shrugged off injuries to score both goals against Macau, emerged the top scorer for the tournament, earning the Golden Boot trophy. On September 29, 2012, Caligdong scored a goal on the 34th minute in the last match of the

2012 Philippine Peace Cup The 2012 Philippine Peace Cup was the inaugural edition of the tournament, four-nation international football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It was originally slated for October 12–16 but the PFF moved it to ...

versus

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

which ended in a 3–1 score line. The Philippines got the championship title with a 3 win, no draw and no loss record. On November 27, 2012, Caligdong who came in as a substitute in the 2nd half and scored an important goal for the Philippines in a 1–0 victory against

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in the

2012 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2012 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 9th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of Southeast Asia. It was co-hosted for group stage by Malaysia and Thailand a ...

. The Philippines eventually finished second in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

and qualified for the semi finals with a 2 win, 1 loss record. In November 2014, Caligdong announced his retirement from international football citing issues on maintaining fitness and plans to focus more on his club.

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

Coaching career

Caligdong obtained a "C" Coaching License sometime in 2014 and will coach the

youth team. He is also aspiring to become an assistant coach for the national football teams. By March 2016, Caligdong is now the head coach of the national under-14 team and a playing assistant coach at Green Archers United senior team. In May 2018, Caligdong became the head coach of the

University of Perpetual Help The University of Perpetual Help System is a network of two universities consisting of nine campuses in the Philippines. History Established in 1968 by Dr. Jose de Guzman Tamayo and his wife Dra. Josefina Laperal Tamayo as Perpetual Help Hospita ...

football team which plays in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) of the Philippines succeeding Aaron Nebreja. Sometime in 2018, Caligdong and his family emigrated to Canada. Caligdong has acquired an AFC B license, UEFA B license, and a Canada B license by June 2020. By that time Caligdong is already coaching local teams in Ontario, Canada: as head coach of the Ontario Development League Boys Under-15 team and as an assistant coach of

's Under-13 team.

Personal life

Emelio Caligdong is married to Renrose with whom he has three children. His family has been planning on emigrating to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

as early as 2008 but such plans has been delayed due to Caligdong's football career. In 2018, they moved to

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

instead of pursuing earlier plans to move to the United States. Caligdong's wife also has two sisters residing in Canada.

Honours

Club

;Philippine Air Force * UFL Division 1:

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2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

UFL Cup The United Football League Cup, commonly known as UFL Cup, was a Filipino association football competition. It was played on a multistage format that culminated in a knockout stage (single elimination). Clubs eligible to compete for the cup wer ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

National team

Long Teng Cup The Long Teng Cup was an annual international friendly football tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Football Association and held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The competition has been contested by Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau and Philippine ...

: Third

: Runners-up

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

: Third

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Philippine Peace Cup The Philippine Peace Cup was a four-nation international football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) which involves the national teams of the Philippines and three invitees. The inaugural edition took place in 2012, ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual

* Long Teng Cup Golden Boot: 1 ::

* PFF National Men's Club Championship Golden Boot: 1 ::

*Philippine Sportswriters Association Mr. Football Title: 1 :: 2011 *The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Sports: 1 :: 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caligdong, Emelio Asada 1982 births Living people Philippine Air Force personnel Filipino footballers Footballers from Iloilo Philippines international footballers Association football wingers Philippine Air Force F.C. players Green Archers United F.C. players Filipino football head coaches Visayan people Filipino expatriates in Canada