Azkals and Volcanoes kick up Yahoo! Search

Neil Etheridge and Phil Younghusband of the Philippine Azkals and the national rugby team Philippine Volcanoes and their controversial Bench billboards are among this week's trending topics on Yahoo! Philippines Search.

1. Neil Etheridge. The 21-year-old goalkeeper and his fellow members of the Philippine Men's Football National Team — popularly known as the Philippine Azkals — are featured in a new television commercial for pain reliever Cortal SQR. Neil delivers the tag line, "Alis sakit, alis pain" in Tagalog with British accent. He was seen crying after their historic July 3 win against the Sri Lanka Brave Reds in the round one of 2014 World Cup Asian qualifiers. Neil took off his jersey and changed into a shirt that showed a picture of him and his British grandfather, who passed away weeks before the game.

2. Angel Locsin and Phil Younghusband. Kapamilya Actress Angel Locsin and Azkals striker Phil Younghusband also spiked on Yahoo! Search after they were reportedly seen kissing at the Azkals victory party. Phil and Angel were recently launched as endorsers of Century Tuna, but their sexy tarpaulin on EDSA was ordered taken down by the Metro Manila Development Authority. Meanwhile, Phil, his brother James, and the other Azkals have also appeared on Silver Swan television commercials.

3. Philippine Rugby Team. After years of silently bringing honor to the country with their victories in international competitions, the Philippine Volcanoes — our national rugby team — erupted into prominence as some of its members posed for a Bench underwear ad. However, the giant billboards of the men in briefs installed along EDSA caught the interest of Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, who called the attention of Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos. Upon the request of Mayor Abalos, the rugby boys' billboards were taken down. While refusing to comment on the removal of the billboards, the Philippine Rugby Football Union thanked Bench for sponsoring the Philippine Volcanoes.

4. Kylie Minogue. Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue did not disappoint Filipino fans who attended her July 5 Greek-inspired dance-pop concert "Aphrodite Live 2011 World Tour" at the Araneta Coliseum. As Yahoo! OMG! puts it, "she transported her fans to the world of mythology" and transformed the Big Dome into a giant dance floor as her fans grooved to her hit songs. Local celebrities like Vice Ganda — who was chosen by Kylie as the night's best dressed — and Anne Curtis — who took the MRT just to catch the concert — were among those who watched.

5. Emma Watson. Harry Potter's nerdy Hermione Granger cried on the red carpet during the world premiere of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" — the last movie in J.K. Rowling's story about a boy wizard. "How do I put into words what all of this has meant to me? It will always be a part of who I am and I feel so blessed to have shared in it," the Daily Mirror quoted her as saying.

6. UAAP Season 74. Rain soaked the campus athletes during the Olympic-style opening ceremonies of the new season of the University Athlethic Association of the Philippines at the Marikina Sports Park last Saturday. The following day, FEU Tamaraws defeated the La Salle Green Archers at the opening game of the men's basketball seniors division at the Araneta Coliseum, while three-peat champion Ateneo Blue Eagles flew higher than the Adamson Soaring Falcons.

7. Sam Pinto. Yahoo! OMG! Awards' Clear Woman awardee Sam Pinto last week received another recognition as number one in FHM Philippines' 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. She thanked her fans and said she's proud of her "all natural" and "God-given" beauty. In a recent press con, Sam revealed that her fellow GMA-7 star Marian Rivera started ignoring her after she was linked to Dingdong Dantes, the "Amaya" star's boyfriend. Sam said Marian has nothing to be insecure about: "You have a very, very beautiful face, a beautiful body, and you have Dingdong all for yourself. So, ano pang hinihingi mo?" she said.

8. Ruffa Gutierrez. Actress and former beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez celebrated her birthday in Singapore on June 24 with some of her friends. A week later, Tim Yap organized another star-studded celebration for Ruffa at the Fever Luxe Lounge, Sofitel Hotel. The 37-year old former Binibining Pilipinas-World is rumored to be in a relationship with Brazilian businessman Eduardo Puertas, but she maintains she is currently single. Ruffa is separated from her Turkish husband Yilmaz Bektas, with whom she has two kids.

9. Kim Chiu. Kapamilya actress Kim Chiu became one of Twitter's trending topics in the Philippines on July 8 after the ABS-CBN talk show "Kris TV" featured her house in Quezon City. She is also on the cover of two magazines this month: Health Today and Star Studio, where she also shared photos of her new house. Kim is set to appear on a new TV series entitled "Binondo Girls."

10. Temptation Island. The remake of Joey Gosiengfiao's classic 80s sex-comedy fim opened on July 6. The release of the movie, which was co-produced by Regal Films and GMA Films, was preceded by a feud between two of its lead actresses, Marian Rivera and Heart Evangelista. "Temptation Island" also features Rufa Mae Quinto, Lovi Poe, and Solenn Heussaff.

These trending searches are for July 4 to 10, 2011. Check out the previous Yahoo! Search Trends article, "Sara and the Azkals score on Yahoo! Search."