Karl Decena, InterAKTV
The Philippine national football team dispatched Chinese Taipei, 3-1, to sweep the Philippine Football Peace Cup on Saturday and win the country’s first international football tournament in 99 years.
Denis Wolf, who scored a hat trick in the Azkals’ 5-0 demolition of Macau last Thursday, opened the floodgates at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, scoring a goal at the 10th minute.
Skipper Chieffy Caligdong then took advantage of a poor clearance job by Chinese Taipei and buried a goal at the 35th minute.
OJ Porteria provided the Azkals a strong first half finish, hitting the net on a breakaway at the 43rd minute to give the Filipinos a commanding 3-nil edge at the break.
However, Azkals goalkeeper Eduard Sacapaño failed to keep a clean sheet throughout the tournament, giving up a goal to forward Chang Han at the 52nd minute that trimmed the Chinese Taipei deficit, 3-1.
Things got heated midway through the second half after Azkals midfielder Demitrius Omphroy seemed to tackle midfielder Lo Chi En of Chinese Taipei inside the penalty box. Chinese Taipei Football Association Vice President Leo Fu Tsai, who protested the call, was dismissed by the referees, but he refused to leave his team’s bench. The incident delayed the game for about 10 minutes.
Forward Lo Chi An then found a scoring chance off a free kick, only to roll harmlessly into the hands of Sacapaño.
The Azkals found a chance to increase their lead, but Patrick Reichelt’s attempt at the 79th minute went off the post.
Chinese Taipei had another opportunity to score after Jason De Jong tackled a Taiwanese player inside the box, giving captain Yang Chao Hsun a penalty kick in injury time.
But Sacapaño once again made another great save to cap a dominating performance for the Azkals.
The victory marks the first time the Philippines beat Chinese Taipei. The Filipinos had previously failed to defeat the Taiwanese in seven matches dating back to 1960.
The Azkals swept their three matches in the Peace Cup, winning against Guam, 1-0, last Tuesday and clobbering Macau, 5-0, last Thursday on their way to the championship.
The Peace Cup title is the Filipinos’ first international tournament win since the Philippines won a gold medal in the 1913 Far Eastern Games.
I guess the fans are going bananas now cos the azkals won an international title, but how "impressive" is really this win? I mean, look at the teams they play against. You couldnt have expected anything less than a win.
ReplyDeleteBut, congratulations to the azkals!
As they say, a win is a win.
A troll comment disguise as a complement
Delete^^How?!? What the anon above said is very true!!
Deleteyou're right but we never won anything the for last 99 years so if this is not an achievement for you, what is??????
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, this didnt do much for me. Its nice, but nothing more.
ReplyDeleteWow, winning a small tournament is crap, you want a World Cup victory cuz you demand the azkals to immediately be a world power.
DeleteThe Philippines has won something in 99 years of losing. Simply unbelievable.
No its not crap, but you cant say it was unexpected either. Specially when reports saying that Taiwan didnt send their best team, and what did you expect against Guam and Macau, that the azkals would overperform, creating a miracle and winning against them?
DeleteHeck, the azkals even beat Macau a couple of years ago with crappy players like Camcam and Gino Pavone on the field, and with a squad with alot less quality than now.
I dont demand the azkals to be a world power, theyre not even a powerhouse in the SEA eventhough the rankings says the opposite, imo, theyre not even close. They still have a long way to go, and im not blind like other fans thinkings this and that.
Congrats to the team. But im only honest when i say that this didnt do to much for me. If it was the Suzuki Cup, id be in paradise, but no.
Btw, i saw a pic of Roel Gener with a medal with the rest of the guys, and he was fully equipped, jersey, spikes, you name it. I thought he was replaced?
@ Anonymous 29 September 2012 19:07
DeleteMy sentiments exactly. And how did Gener get a medal? He wasn't even in the 20-man squad. That's BS and takes seriously takes the piss.
congratualtions to the Azkals for winning a title, even it's not a important one. Of course the opponents were far away from challenging or giants but nevertheless they gave the people something to cheer to....and kept the cup at home. If you consider that this is actually our B-Team (just have a look what players didn't perform here like Cagara, both Younghusbands, Borromeo, Ott, Schrock, Mulders, Jonsson, Lucena, Etheridge...) ...there's much more potential in the team and we have at least a NT were you can exchange some players and it still has some decent quality (not like in the past). Of course I am not blind and know that our NT has a long way to go and we are still not Top or a powerhouse in SEA but things develope now. I just wish (of course it will be utopic) all the players (abroad and home) could prepare and practise for a tourament for a longer period....for sure we would be a contentor which would be hard to beat....but the problems with our oversea players is that they are tired from travelling and just able to arrive a day before or so when the matches take place.....anyway, even some haters will pure again some gasoline into the fire.....we should be happy first with the small things and that the team won something....now it's time to prepare for other things.....
ReplyDeletecongrats azkals!!
ReplyDeleteThis win might not have done much to you guys but this is a pretty important accomplishment. We use to struggle with these same teams that we just played and we just dominate them this time around. That's the big picture. Forget that it was even a 4-team tournament. This was a pretty good step forward.
ReplyDeleteSome of you guys just can't be happy with anything. You guys are mad when they lose games, now, you guys are still mad when they win! I don't understand the mentality. Can't we all just relish this win and move forward? I think you us expect the azkals to be in freakin fifa world cup, but we're not at that level yet. You also have to put into consideration that we did not have our best team either, and yet, we came out great. The point is, before, not too long ago, we could never win in ANY matches at all. And now, we are having a few wins and that is great for our tram and for the country's morale.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say I am really proud of our team and I am very proud of this accomplishment. We are a team that is slowly trying to stand up and we all know it is going to take years before we actually make a substantial mark in football, but the important thing is that we are trying and not giving up. Few loses there, a few wins here, it's all a learning experience. And i don't know about you guys, but I am glad to be present during this time and be able to see our NT improve little by little. Success will be sweeter.
a stepping stone to something even greater for our national team! pilipinas campeones!
ReplyDeleteJust one small step for our team, but one giant leap for Pinoy football. Sorry for the Pun. Hell yeah!!! Nag champion din kami.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the Philippine Azkals!!!...and to the Coaches, more Power!!!
ReplyDeleteAt least we knew that there a lot of talented Filipinos, a lot of players wherein we can depend much when the others are not available...more options, the Better!
To Chieffy, Congratulations! We hope to see u again here in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental. Actually, Chieffy sponsored our Football Festival (U14, U12, U8 and Men's Open) here last March.
---from us here, Magallon United FC