01 June 2012

Azkals hold Malaysia to scoreless draw


MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals put up a gallant fight against Malaysia in the latter's turf, holding the Malay Tigers to a scoreless draw in their friendly game at the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor on Friday.
The Filipinos, especially Filipino-German keeper Roland Muller, defended well to counter the Malaysians’ dominant ball possession.
Denis Wolf and Stephan Schrock, who provided several chances for the Filipino side, were also impressive for the Azkals.
Striker Mohd Safee Mohd Sali was the biggest threat from Malaysia, making most of the Malay Tigers' attempts at goal.
Following Denis Wolf's missed attempt off a nifty pass by Juani Guirado, Safee got a chance and nearly slid it in for the Malaysians in the 35th minute.
The Philippine side grew stronger as the minutes went by, even getting a free kick near the end of the half.
However, Schrock’s shot from 40 yards out went wide.
Angel Guirado later had a bold attempt with a bicycle kick but was blocked by a Malaysian defender.
In the second half, the Malaysians played with more aggression as they continued attacking from the flanks.
This placed the Azkals on defensive mode with Muller working double time at his post.
Malaysia’s Safiq Rahim had several chances in the second half. Fortunately for the Azkals, he squandered most of his attempts.
The Philippine side tried pulling off a miracle near the end by sending in Ian Araneta and Misagh Bahadoran but the Tigers held on and prevented possible humiliation at their home turf.
In the end, Malaysia had 4 out of 12 shots on target, while the Azkals only had 2 out of 3.
The Tigers also enjoyed 62% ball possessions compared to the Filipinos' 38%
The game was a rematch between the two sides.
The Azkals and the Tigers fought to a 1-1 draw last March.
The Philippine Azkals will next face the Indonesian football team on June 5 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

8 comments:

  1. Sino scout dito para sa PFF , another high profile players scout .. PFF please check on
    Omid Nazari(21) and Amin Nazari(19) . filipino swedish players . both are being recruited by Sweden and Iran , pwde pa pang maka halo sa mix ang Philippines , High Profiled youth players etong dalawa na to,

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  2. punta ka sa usapang football azkals ... and post this there ... i even think these two have been in the scouting folder already there.

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  3. Management is already aware of the Nazari brothers.

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  4. I was a very good match. We can tell how the Phil. side greatly improved on their defence. Now they should have a game plan for a good offensive.

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  5. azkals lacked chemistry. schrock hugged the ball while chieffy couldn't even do anything with the ball even when he had it. angel also dribbled too much. we were lucky to get a draw, malaysia should be frustrated.

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    1. indeed Malaysia should be frustrated as they had so many clear chances to bring the game home at least 2-0. if they had better finishing qualities they had shot us off...our azkals had also a few chances (e.g. Wolf's shot)but most of the offensive actions were harmless. especially with a weapon like Sabio's long throw-in we should try to make more out of it.

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  6. 38 year old futbal fan2 June 2012 at 07:08

    Unfortunately, I only get to see the last part of the game where Juani Guirado went down in Youtube. The last scare that we had was a kick that went above the cross bars. But the way I see it our defenders really defended well.

    Maybe Araneta, Bahadoran, Shrock and the other guys are still adjusting but we have to commend them for playing well especially on going back to defense. Again for me, these are adjustments.

    I think we missed a lot the plays of the Younghusbands but it is still a blessing cause the team gets to learn to play another face with a new group of strikers without the Phil.
    That's their homecourt anyway, they are more happy not losing on their place.

    Bravo Azkals.

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  7. I don't agree on the ball position 62%-38%??? I can say 55%-45%

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