Looking for more than a medal
Azkal Suerti relishes chance to play for country, but wants to meet biological parents in SEA Games stint
When Philippines’ defender Edison Suerti stepped on the Rizal Memorial Stadium pitch wearing the Philippines jersey for the first time in his home country on Monday, he was holding out hope that the spotlight on the Southeast Asian Games would lead to something more than just a glorious moment for the Young Azkals.
Suerti, 20, has not seen his biological parents as he was only 18-months-old when Norwegian musicians Jens and Lena Mordal brought him to Molde, Norway, from Children’s Shelter in Cebu.
“I hope she’s proud of me when she sees me,” said Suerti, referring to his mother, who gave birth to him in Cotabato City.
“I don’t know all of the details, but my biological mother brought me to the orphanage in Cebu. I was told that probably she didn’t have the resources to take care of me.”
Suerti, who took the Mordal surname and added Elias to his first name when the adoption was legalized, is slowly retracing his roots through the sport introduced to him by Jens almost 15 years ago.
“I was really lucky I was given a brand-new life in very good conditions,” the Young Azkals rightback said. Suerti has two other siblings also adopted by the Mordal couple in Johannes, 17, and Milla, 11.
Suerti was five when Jens took him to a local club, Traeff, to learn and enjoy the game. He also took in his adoptive parents’ passion for music, playing the guitar and piano.
“I fell in love with football because of my father, Jens. He was passionate about the game.”
But he always reverted to his first love—football—as he embarked on a career that has taken him to the youth team of one of Norway’s biggest clubs in Molde, where he had the opportunity to train under now Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Soljkaer. He signed with another club, Brattvag, early this year when he got the call from Azkals coach Scott Cooper to join the camp in March.
But Suerti begged off from the camp to focus on his club commitments. “It came at a really difficult time because I just signed for the club and it’s one of those times where you have a huge chance of making things happen,” he said.
Another call came in June for the camp in China with Suerti joining the Azkals this time and ultimately parting ways with Brattvag, convinced that his time with the national team would lead to better opportunities.