Jakarta: Christian Gonzales capitalised on a defensive mix-up to give Indonesia a narrow advantage over the Philippines in the first leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final on Thursday.
The Uruguay-born striker headed the only goal of the game after goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and full-back Ray Jonsson had got in each other's way in the 32nd minute at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
It proved to be the only real lapse by the Filipino defence who defended heroically throughout the evening. But it was enough to give the Indonesians a precious lead to take into the return match at the same venue on Sunday.
The partisan home crowd of 70,000 created a deafening roar as the game kicked off but the Philippines showed few signs of nerves early on despite the intimidating atmosphere.
Gonzales put a weak shot wide in the opening minute but the first real Indonesian chance only arrived after 10 minutes when Oktovianus Maniani gave the ball to an overlapping Mohammad Nasuha, who cut it back from the left for Gonzales whose close range attempt went straight at Etheridge.
The Philippines were solid defensively in the early stages and created a few chances of their own. On 14 minutes, Phil Younghusband drilled a low shot from the edge of the Indonesian box that goalkeeper Markus Harison turned out for a corner.
Midway through the first half, Phil's elder brother James created a fine opening for himself. He turned brilliantly away from a challenge by Muhammad Ridwan on the left flank and ran unchallenged before unleashing a vicious low swerving shot from 25 metres that Harison did well to parry. Ian Araneta attempted to pounce on the rebound but was flagged for offside
The Philippines competed well for the first half-hour, allowing the Indonesians few real scoring opportunities. But having gone nearly four hours without conceding a goal in the tournament, their composure finally cracked after a fatal defensive mix-up.
There appeared to be little danger when Firman Utina swung in a deep cross from midfield to the right of the Filipino box. But Etheridge and Jonsson got in each other's way and the ball fell nicely for a lurking Gonzales, who placed his header into the unguarded net.
The goal ignited the Indonesian crowd and the home side turned up the pressure for the rest of the half.
The Filipino defence had recovered their poise their poise though and Alexander Borromeo made a great defensive header to clear a dangerous cross by Muhammad Ridwan before it could reach Irfan Bachdim or Gonzales. Jonsson then made up for his earlier lapse with a good challenge to deny Irfan before he could fire a shot on target.
Eleven minutes into the second half, Robert Gier produced the tackle of the game with a sliding challenge to stop Gonzales as he bore down on the Philippines goal after being released by Irfan's through ball.
The Indonesians continued to plug away throughout the second half only to be turned away time after time by the Filipino defence, which put in some fine last-ditch tackles to deny the Indonesians a clear change against Etheridge.
The visitors themselves had few real chances but they nearly drew level after an Indonesian defensive mix-up in the 75th minute. Maman Abdurachman got in the way of Harison as the goalkeeper attempted to gather the ball on the edge of the box and the loose ball fell to James Younghusband who fired a bicycle kick towards goal. Fortunately for the Indonesians, Zulkifly Syukur was alert to the danger and heroically headed the ball off his goalline.
Bambang Pamungkas came on as a substitute and broke into the box in the 80th minute only to be forced wide by Etheridge. The striker was still able to put in a cross from the left but it flew just over the head of Gonzales.
aseanfootball
It's haalftim and the team played a pretty good game. One mistake cost us but we can beat Indonesia. The boys just need to bear down and not anymore miscues occur in the next 90 mins.
ReplyDeleteThat Indonesia needed an error on our part to get the goal is testament to how equal the teams are. Lets hope we will not make any more errors and we can still pull this out of the bag.
ReplyDeleteGoddamm Martinez..as if 90,000 fans against us is not enough..you really made sure Indonesia as heavy favorites have even more advantage against the Azkals. You will pay for your treachery
ReplyDeleteBlame ... Blame ... Blame ... Stop it... the players are good enough to win even with the 90,000 fans against them ... Just cross your fingers that they will win the next match and i think they will.
ReplyDeleteIf the team lost you blame martinez, if they win martinez has also no credit for it. Don't concentrate on one man ... There is a game to play and Win...
We should have won if it wasnt played in Indonesia. Its not over yet and we should punish whos behind this and thats Martinez. He should have been responsible in the first place since this tournament began securing a PITCH. This really cost us this lost and ALL THIS SHAMEFUL IDEA THAT WE DIDNT HAVE A PITCH. For me this is a disaster and injustice.
ReplyDeleteWe could have won it if its a home game and no doubt about that.
We should act right now so that it wont happen again, all this shame and incompetence. We wouldnt want to host a Semi-final again without a pitch and whether we like it or not this will always leave a scar on Philippine footbal
That 1 should have been us and not for the Indons in a clear point of view. i wouldnt want to suffer humilation from other Asian countries and we must do this for them to respect us more. Like the respect that the Indons have given us after this game.
how sure are you that the team will win if the venue was here. it might have been more pressure for the team because of the high expectations of a winning result. It is more shameful and embarrassing to have lost the game here in the Phil. than Indonesia or any other country. Anyway , good for you at least you have the venue and martinez to blame for the Lost. Come to think of it , if they lost here in the phil. who's to blame now... Wala..Well at least the PFF will get the money for the tickets, that is if you can seat 90,000 spectators , e baka nga 20,000 or less lang ang audience natin dito,take out the expenses for renovation,lighting, medical facilities , promotions, people , and pockets among all other things. Again... you have martinez to blame for this din pala, di ba...
ReplyDeleteIn fair play our team really gave their best !!! and I do hope they will win the next game. To our Dear AZKALS , win or lose , the Filipino people supports you...Period.
Question ? did you go to Indonesia to support the team. If you did sana sinapak mo na lang si Martinez , ang laki ng galit mo eh... kesa daldal ka ng daldal against him , square na lang kayo if you win it will make you a hero of PFF , unless your a girl , kurot at sampal puwede na.
You might have forgotten the real sense of the game ... Indonesia ang opponent and not Martinez. Ibang isssue yon... Funny thing to see Martinez Playing alone in the field against the AZKALS and you hyena as the coach of the AZKALS. Baka madamay pa sila sa galit mo at mawala ang concentration ng AZKALS at matalo pa sila... Mr or Ms HYENA you choice of name seems to spell who you are " a wild carnivorous scavenging animal resembling a dog" are you???
ReplyDeleteIf your a sportsman then you will understand the advantage of a home game.
ReplyDeleteThats why we want a home game to improve our fans in this sport in the country. This is just a step. We dont have that number of fans in Philippines but bringing a foreign team will help our goal for the sport. It will encourage the younger players and everyone to love the sport. I bet the Philippines would love to see this azkals in a real match and and the azkals want to see a real fans.
The Azkals were fighting at the beginning of this tournament to have this home game and im sure theres no shame even if they lose because they already did a good job. Theres a good sense of pride in there.
What is shameful is the fact that we didnt have a pitch? Read the news in SEA, these countries were wondering why didnt have 1. This is a shame. I hope you understand the difference between home and away games because reality is, everybody wants a home game. I understand about expenses and money matters about home games but I bet with the pride that the azkals gives us were exceptional. They gain this respect. They brought us this recognition. We gain this respect from this countries in just less than a month
Its my own business to be hateful to Martinez. Its just because he did not do his simple homework.
I understand your idea and thanks for that.
Its just that I love this sport and I was just hoping we could have a home game match. We can do it next time.
Thanks
Im sorry Mr. Hyena ,You are right and I stand humbled & corrected , i am not a Sportsman as you are , I am just an Avid Fan...
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that the AZKALS paved the way to the beginning of the sense of the game in the Philippines and that is "Real Football". It's like watching the World Cup with sense because you have a flag to carry and cheer for... I love the sports too... Please don't worry we will have that chance to host the future games, in time. For now we should cheer for them and hope against all hopes that they WIN!!! Either way Win or Lose , they are still winners for me...
I better cripple this Indons players by biting their legs. Im sure we will win 2 nil.
ReplyDeleteTo the guy who posted this:
ReplyDelete"How sure are you that the team will win if the venue was here. it might have been more pressure for the team because of the high expectations of a winning result. It is more shameful and embarrassing to have lost the game here in the Phil. than Indonesia or any other country. Anyway , good for you at least you have the venue and martinez to blame for the Lost. Come to think of it , if they lost here in the phil. who's to blame now... Wala..Well at least the PFF will get the money for the tickets, that is if you can seat 90,000 spectators , e baka nga 20,000 or less lang ang audience natin dito,take out the expenses for renovation,lighting, medical facilities , promotions, people , and pockets among all other things. Again... you have martinez to blame for this din pala, di ba... "
This is exactly the kind of convoluted and short-sighted thinking that has gotten us into the mess we are in and will surely get us nowhere. A great majority of us on this board, the real supporters of football, and like the entire Azkal organization, do NOT care about the money.
Keep repeating this money meme and we will think you are martinez' twin, perfectly schooled in the art of double-talk. Or are you?
And the Azkals will not blame your man for their setbacks. I hope they continue to ignore him and not dignify his behaviour with a response.
For the good of football, you, much like the man you are defending, should just stfu.
You are entitled to your opinion, no matter how asinine, and I am entitled to mine.
I posted here earlier about my support for the Philippine team first and then in in hindsight I blamed Martinez AND I STILL STAND BY WHAT I SAY. Whoever you are Anonymous (the first one who posted in the morning of Dec 17), If you are telling me the home crowd could have been a disadvantage, then I agree with everything Hyena and the Anonymous guy who posted before me has said. You dont know what you are talking about. You mean it could have even been worse for the Azkals because of the pressure? No Filipino footballer in history has played in front of 90,000 hostile fans. Is there greater pressure than that? Would you rather that than playing in front of even 1000 noisy filipinos or even an empty stadium? That is a disadvantage and even McMenemy said the reason for the goal line mishap is Etheridge and Johnsson didnt hear each other because of the noise. Martinez is responsible, I know its been like kicking a dead horse in these blogs but I still want to vent my anger as most true Filipino football fans do. He is responsible for not having a pitch and he is responsible for not even putting up a decent fight to play it at a neutral venue. He sold us out thinking we would get a share of the gate receipts (which we didnt!!). What foresight!! On the brink of the biggest game in history and you think of money? Again why not in a neutral venue when so many are offering to help us? I will blame Martinez as it is my right and because I know I am right to do so. And I further agree with Hyena, we would have won if the game was played in the Philippines. Hyena and the Anonymous before me know exactly what the home leg means. You guys are true fans who are knowledgeable and it gives me some contentment that a lot more people know the real score.
ReplyDelete