Winter is Azkals' worst enemy

By Joaquin Henson (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines – National football team skipper Aly Borromeo said the other day he’s more worried about the freezing conditions than the Blue Wolves when the Azkals play the closer of their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup qualifying home-and-away series in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, on March 15.

Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano Araneta Jr. is worried, too, and that’s why he’s arranging for the Azkals to train for a week in winter weather at the J-Village, a training camp in Fukushima, north of Tokyo, before proceeding to Ulan Bator.

Araneta said Mizuno will outfit the Azkals with thermal uniforms, anticipating the temperature to drop to -2 degrees Celsius even as the match is scheduled at 1 p.m. when the climate is least chilling. He said the weather forecast is a temperature range of -2 to -11 for most of March.

“We’ll be prepared,” said Araneta. “We’ll bring gloves, thermal wear, scarves and even bonnets. We’ve never played under these conditions before. We’re eager to find out how the weather will affect our speed and agility.”

The Azkals open training camp with German coach Michael Weiss in Baguio on Monday. Araneta said if Mongolia won’t provide a practice facility a week before the match, the team will leave for Japan on March 6 then travel to Ulan Bator on March 12.

Team manager Dan Palami is circulating an information kit on Mongolia to forewarn the Azkals of what to expect, specifically weather conditions. Mongolia and the Philippines fall within the same time zone but their climates are like night and day. Palami said the match will be played in a stadium with a capacity of about 2,500, a far cry from the 80,000 fans who jeered the Azkals in two Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup semifinal matches in Jakarta last December. He added that ABS-CBN intends to air the Mongolia contest live on Philippine TV.

Borromeo, 27, said the Azkals won’t play Mongolia defensively like the Blue Wolves in the opener at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City last Feb. 9.

“We won’t park the bus like they did against us,” said Borromeo. “We can’t let them set the pace. We’ll try to get off fast and look to score. If we score once, they’ll need to get four goals to beat us on aggregate. We’ll put the pressure on them.”

Borromeo referred to Mongolia’s defensive strategy when the Azkals won, 2-0, in the first match. The Blue Wolves concentrated on clogging the penalty box in a “sacrifice” ploy to avoid a deluge of Filipino goals. Mongolia’s offense was virtually carried by only striker Ganbaatar Tugsbayar. As a result of Mongolia’s “parking” strategy, the Azkals booted in only two goals of 32 attempts. Palami estimated that the Philippines controlled 80 percent of total possessions. In Mongolia, the Blue Wolves are expected to play aggressively on offense.

“Aly and our defenders should be able to handle their offense in Mongolia,” said Palami. “They’ll have to open up their defense and be more offense-minded because they’ll need to beat us by three goals to win on aggregate. That means we’ll have more scoring opportunities.”

Borromeo said he expects Weiss to employ more offensive tactics now that the German has become more acquainted with the Filipinos’ tendencies. Weiss was credited for making “wise” decisions in the first Mongolia match, including the reinstatement of Chieffy Caligdong as starter, shifting players around the field to keep the Mongolian defense guessing and subbing little-known Jason Sabio for Anton del Rosario late in the second half.

“Coach knows the game,” said Borromeo. “And he’s gotten to know us. He’s spoken with us one-on-one and in groups. He knows what we’re capable of doing and not doing. He listens to suggestions but in the end, it’s his call and we follow what he tells us. When he brought in Jason, some of us wondered why he was subbing a defender for another defender. But it was a great move. Mongolia didn’t know anything about Jason. It was Jason who slipped out of the defense to penetrate the box and assist Phil (Younghusband) for the second goal.”

Borromeo said fullback Roel Gener, a Barotac Nuevo defender from the Philippine Army, was moved around in at least four different positions by Weiss to confuse the Blue Wolves.

Gener, 36, said the Azkals were prepared to play even 180 minutes if necessary to put on a convincing performance before over 20,000 hometown fans.

Borromeo, Gener, reserve midfielder Nestorio Margarse and pool-of-30 tryout survivor Ricardo Becite were accompanied by Araneta, Palami and AFF vice president Johnny Romualdez on a visit to The Philippine STAR office in Port Area the other day.

Margarse, who was listed as one of seven reserves but didn’t play at Panaad, described Mongolia as a physical team but said the Filipinos can play physical, too. Becite was named to the Azkals’ pool-of-30 after tryouts but didn’t make the cut for the 23-man lineup. He said he’ll keep working hard at practice to prove he’s got what it takes to crack the final roster.


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