PH Azkals force scoreless draw
SHAH ALAM—Stalemates against pedigreed sides often brought delight to the Philippines in the past.
But despite giving Suzuki Cup champion Malaysia all that it can handle Friday night in a scoreless standoff at the Shah Alam Stadium, the Azkals were left ruing the missed opportunity of pulling off another upset that could have enhanced their growing reputation in the region.
Parading new combination of players who had only two training sessions together, the Azkals valiantly held their ground in the face of the home side’s relentless attacks in the second half, while putting what was considered a stronger Malaysian team than the one they drew with in Manila three months ago on their heels for most of the opening half.
“It really just goes to show how far we’ve come when the team becomes disappointed by drawing against the Suzuki Cup champions,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “It was a very tough match.”
The match that drew about 15,000 spectators had few clear-cut chances, which mostly belonged to Malaysia in the second half.
Fil-German goalkeeper Roland Muller had a solid outing and the Azkals survived the pressure, while Stephan Schrock pulled the strings at midfield early in the opening half.
The Azkals were missing key players in Neil Etheridge and Phil and James Younghusband, who are all expected to return for the clash against Indonesia on Tuesday.
Denis Wolf, the scorer in the 1-1 draw against Malaysia in Manila, could not duplicate his exploits, narrowly missing on a left-footed effort in the 34th minute after a flowing move that started with Schrock’s free kick and Juani Guirado’s quick through ball.
Paul Mulders also had a bullet of a volley barely going over, after getting a layoff from Wolf in the 14th minute. Substitute Marwin Angeles sent a low shot from just outside the wide after recovering the ball at midfield, and Angel Guirado caused problems with his physical presence going forward and nearly set up Schrock for a goal.
“In some respects it was a good performance,” said defender Rob Gier, who wore the captain’s armband for the remainder of the match when Chieffy Caligdong was substituted in the 55th minute. “We rode our luck a couple of times, but we also had a couple of good opportunities ourselves which showed the quality of the team.”
Malaysia couldn’t cash in on their opportunities as Muller and the Azkals defense proved equal to the challenge.
The best among Muller’s crucial saves came in the first half stoppage time when he went full stretch to punch Shahurain Abu Samah’s shot into the post. Gier also blocked Safiq Rahim’s effort when Muller was beaten early in the second half.
Rahim was a thorn for the Azkals side, but he blew three chances with the goal at his mercy as he combined well with strikers Safee Sali and Idlan Talaha.
Philippines coach Michael Weiss vowed for a better performance for the Azkals on Tuesday. “Automatically, the cohesion will be better,” Weiss said. “The defense was solid and compact. But we have to be more determined in front of the goal.”
source: inquirer.net
My Say: I think missing some key players did affected Azkals play against Malaysia. I guess what they can do is not to depend too much on their key players by improving the skills of all the players. Azkals will be a better team if they can depend on one another and not just to few. That way, even if some players miss a match it will not affect the team too much since there are other players that can play.
3 key Azkals Players to miss KL friendly
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals will likely miss three key starters when they play the Malaysian Tigers in a Fifa international friendly on June 1 in Kuala Lumpur.
Keeper Neil Etheridge will also sit out to serve a one-game suspension belatedly slapped by the AFC for his action in the Azkals’ third place match against Palestine in the Challenge Cup in Nepal.
“James and I won’t be able to play against Malaysia because we had a commitment we could not get out of,” said Phil during the recent launch of the Chelsea Soccer School Philippines, a joint undertaking of Chelsea FC and The Younghusband Football Academy.
“But we’ll be playing against Indonesia and Guam,” he assured, referring to two friendlies succeeding the Malaysia fixture, on June 5 against Indonesia at Rizal Memorial and on June 12 against Guam at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.
The AFC did not specify what Etheridge did that merited the punishment. The Fil-British actually sat out that game as penalty for getting a red card during Phl XI’s previous outing against Turkmenistan in the semis of the same tourney so his alleged misconduct might have happened on the sidelines of that Palestine fixture.
“The friendly game against Malaysia is an AFC-sanctioned match and therefore, Etheridge should serve his suspension on that match,” said Azkals team coordinator Ace Bright.
The Azkals will hold a local training camp in San Carlos and Bacolod on May 21-28 to crank up their preparations for the three friendlies.
My say: We all know that the James and Phil Younghusbands are not only some dude with cute face neither the rest of the Azkals team. The Younghusbands and Neil are key players of Azkals that have already proven their worth. But let's not loose hope since the team still has a lot of great players and they will sure do their best to win the friendly game in Kuala Lumpur against the Malaysian Tigers on June 1. So let's show them our support and cheer them up kaholeros.
Malaysia, India invited vs Azkals in a friendly game and I think that the Azkals team will surely benefit from friendly matches because it will help them a lot in improving their skills.
Azkals face Guam in Panaad
MANILA, Philippines — Returning to the site of one their biggest victories, the Philippine Azkals will take on Guam on June 12 at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.
A match against Bahrain’s Under-22 team was initially considered before the Philippine Football Federation decided on inviting Guam, which is positioned near the bottom of the Fifa rankings.
The game caps a three-match swing for the Azkals in June that starts with a game against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on June 1 and a date with Indonesia at the Rizal Memorial Stadium four days later.
The Azkals last played in Panaad in February last year when they defeated Mongolia, 2-0, in their AFC Challenge Cup Pre-qualifying match. The national team also won against Timor Leste, 7-0, in the AFF Championship five years ago in Bacolod in one of the country’s most convincing wins in history.
“We wanted to play against Bahrain Under-22 but it was also important for us to get Fifa ranking points and that can only happen if we play senior teams,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.
“The team is delighted at the prospect of playing again in Bacolod where support for the Azkals has also been overwhelming.”
In preparation for the friendly matches, Azkals coach Michael Weiss said the team will be undergoing a week-long training camp in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental starting May 21.
With the United Football League heading into the homestretch, Weiss said he thought it was better to leave his UFL players with their clubs as of the moment.
But the German vowed to send a “very competitive” team for the three matches.
The team, Weiss said, could actually include several new players as he plans to invite more local-based standouts, particularly Green Archers Globe goalkeeper Patrick Deyto.
Source: inquirer.net
My say: This will be another stepping stone for the Philippine football team Azkals. Hope they will able to show how good they are in the fields compare to last year... Goodluck guys and we will closely watching you... Show Guam that Azkals is not an easy team to beat.
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