Chieffy, Phil shoot Azkals over Singapore for historic football victory

Karl Decena, InterAKTV

The Philippine national men’s football team bounced back from a lackluster outing to notch a historic victory over home team Singapore, 2-0, Friday night.
The Azkals got a boost from the return of Filipino-German midfielder Stephan Schrock, who assisted on goals by longtime Philippine football stars Chieffy Caligdong and Phil Younghusband. Schrock, who plays for Bundesliga first division squad TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, facilitated the Azkals attack for the whole match.
The Filipinos had a sluggish start as their lousy defense almost allowed Singapore to score in the fourth minute, which was saved by goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.
But the Azkals recovered quickly on a fortunate goal by Caligdong off a Schrock pass at the eighth minute. The Singaporeans nearly scored the equalizer in the 35th minute, but referees ruled it as an offside.
Etheridge almost surrendered an own goal after failing to keep hold of the ball at the 43rd minute. Luckily, the Azkals managed to clear the ball.
After the halftime break, Schrock connected once more, this time with Younghusband for a goal at the 49th minute for the 2-0 lead. Singapore, missing veteran striker Aleksandar Duric because of an ankle injury, looked toothless on offense as it tried to rally.
The Azkals showed much finer form than in their match against Cambodia last Wednesday, which ended in a scoreless draw. The Philippine team wraps up its three-nation Southeast Asian tour on Monday.
It was the first victory for the Philippines in nine matches against Singapore since 1991. Prior to the game, Singapore only failed to beat the Filipinos once over that period, the draw in the 2010 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup that jumpstarted the Azkals’ miracle run to the semifinals of the competition.
With the win, the Philippines also avenged its 2-0 loss to Singapore in a friendly in the city state last October.
The Azkals will battle Singapore again in Cebu on November before going to Thailand for the 2012 Suzuki Cup, where they look to surpass their semifinal finish two years ago.

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