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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

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 i ...

. 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 In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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) () is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Initially formed as part of the Philippine Army as the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) in 1935, the PAAC eventually saw combat ...

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, Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The team last played in the 2019 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 The Perpetual Altas and Lady Altas, or the UPHSD Altas and Lady Altas, are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) teams of the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA. They are also popularly known as the Perps. Since join ...

Early life

Emelio Asada Caligdong was born on 28 September 1982 in

Pototan, Iloilo Pototan (, , ), is a 1st class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,298 people. In December 1997, it was declared as ...

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

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

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 (, ), is a municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 58,176 people. The town is officially known as the ''Football Cap ...

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

Palarong Pambansa The Palarong Pambansa ( Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from the different regions of the Philippines. The event which was known as the BPISAA Games from its inception in 1948 until 197 ...

Club career

Caligdong 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. Caligdong 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 Football in the Philippines, Filipino association football compet ...

finals. However, the UFL blocked the loan move and insisted that players from the UFL could not play for other clubs, even in competitions hosted by the Philippine Football Federation. The UFL also insisted that if Caligdong and other loaned players by ERCO suited for the club they could not return to their mother club. This was after other UFL teams complained about 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 Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

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

ASEAN Football Championship The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's natio ...

. 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, were 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. ...

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

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

. In the first match of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

of the qualifying playoff round of the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

against

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

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

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and two more goals on October 4 against

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

in the

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

. 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 in 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 t ...

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 the ...

, 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 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, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

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 concentr ...

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 coached the

youth team. He also aspired to become an assistant coach for the national football teams. By March 2016, Caligdong became the head coach of the national under-14 team and a playing assistant coach for Green Archers United senior team. In May 2018, Caligdong became the head coach of the University of Perpetual Help football team , which plays in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) of the Philippines succeeding Aaron Nebreja. Sometime in 2018, Caligdong and his family emigrated to Canada. Caligdong acquired an AFC B license, UEFA B license, and a Canada B license by June 2020. By that time, Caligdong was 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 had been planning on emigrating to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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 the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 Philippines. ...

: Third

: Runners-up

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

: Third

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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 *

ASEAN All-Stars The ASEAN All-Stars is a football team founded by the ASEAN Football Federation in 2014. The team is made up of Southeast Asia internationals and selected players from the regional leagues. History 2014 team The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caligdong, Emelio Asada 1982 births Living people Philippine Air Force personnel Filipino men's footballers Footballers from Iloilo Philippines men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Philippine Air Force F.C. players Green Archers United F.C. players Filipino football managers Visayan people Filipino emigrants to Canada 21st-century Filipino sportsmen