24 November 2012

Azkals yield bloody opener to Thailand in Suzuki Cup


By Alder Almo
A bloodied Philippine Azkals side yielded a close 2-1 loss to host Thailand in the opening of the Group A matches in the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup at the cavernous Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Physically battered at the start, the Azkals battled the War Elephants toe to toe in the first 37 minutes only to surrender a goal in the next minute that started their fall.
Showing precision in their short passing game, a three-touch combination by the Thais led to a beautiful goal by Jakkapan Pornsai right at the goal’s mouth as Phl keeper Ed Sacapano was caught by surprise.  
Stunned by the goal, the Azkals let up again on defense as the War Elephants doubled their lead in the span of only two minutes.
Anucha Kitpongsri outraced the Azkals’ back four in a counter-attack and baited Sacapano to move out then calmly went to his left to avoid the Phl keeper before slotting in the goal that put more pressure on the visitors.
With so much talk on the Azkals’ rise since gate-crashing the Suzuki Cup semis two years ago, the Thais showed the visitors that they are in for a dogfight this time around.
Phl’s star striker Phil Younghusband got a nasty cut above his left eye inside the first 10 minutes of the match before midfielder Jerry Lucena got hurt at the back of his head in a mid-air collision.  The physicality of the match left the Azkals in total disarray in the first half.
The momentum, however, shifted to the never-say-die Azkals in the second half as they pulled one back despite Phil and James Younghusband taken out.
Singapore match hero Marwin Angeles came in for Phil at the start while Patrick Reichelt substituted James in the 60th minute that proved to be a stroke of genius.
Five minutes later, Thailand's star Teerasil Dangda left defender Juani Guirado with a bloodied mouth with his wayward elbow that, curiously, only drew a yellow card from the Japanese referee. That incident only fed the Azkals' desire to get back at them with a morale-boosting goal.
Reichelt made his presence felt. Fresh off the bench, substitute's pace posed problems for the Thais and his swift cross found an unmarked Paul Mulders, who scored his first international goal in the 76th minute.
Suddenly, the Azkals were energized and became the aggressor constantly attacking and challenging the War Elephants’ defense.
But just as Phl is making progress in the match, the unthinkable happened. The Azkals’ German coach Hans Michael Weiss was sent off for tossing the ball to a fallen Thai player on the ground.
Phl booters tried to rally behind their coach but failed to capitalize on one chance after another as the War Elephants parked the bus.  Thailand continued its mastery of the Philippines on the pitch extending their head-to-head record to 16-1, their lone loss to the Filipino booters coming in more than four decades ago – a 3-1 defeat in the 1971 Merdeka Games.
Despite the loss, Weiss took it as a good result for the Azkals, whose last goal against the War Elephants prior to this match was way back in 2004 Tiger Cup.
“Our couple of changes in the second half paid off,” said Weiss during the post-match interview.
Facing a possible suspension with his ejection, Weiss remained upbeat on the Azkals’ chances against Vietnam, whom they defeated 2-0 two years ago that paved the way for "Azkal-mania".
“It’s not the best situation. We’ll try to make the best out of it,” Weiss added.
The Azkals are now facing a must-win situation in their next two matches starting off against Vietnam on Tuesday before wrapping up the group stages on Friday versus Myanmar to repeat their semifinals appearance in 2010.
Thailand took the provisional lead in the group with three points while Vietnam and Myanmar are tied with one point each after their 1-1 draw in the curtain-raiser.  The top two teams in the group will advance to the crossover, home-and-away semifinals.


18 comments:

  1. How was it a yield when the Philippines only had one chance at goal? Did the writer watch the game? Does he know anything about soccer? How come they keep mention those fouls that thailand commit. Did Philippines lose the game because of these fouls?

    it's funny how the writer dedicated a whole paragraph for the Michael Weiss ball "tossing" incident. What a coach he is... No wonder why when football fans hear Hans Michael Weiss name, they goes "who the farck is that". Well, you get what you pay for.

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  2. I hope Phil gets through the group stage, it will be tough. I hope Thailand and Philippines will meet again. We will give you more lesson about football. Especially if the field is in it top condition. Well, I don't need to spend time to type it. I think the Philippines know how good wwe are. We are on a different level. Yield? Haha

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    1. Learn what? How to pick up half breeds from Europe?
      Collecting a bunch of European dregs don't make you as strong as you wish. If you thought football was that easy, shame on ya.
      Thaiand has a solid football league and system which consistently produces quality players with their own hands. That's what you call development, not just searching for foreign-produced players. And you're blind if you didn't see how thai players outclassed azkals in all aspects last night. Oh well, only except for size and looks? Giggles.

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    2. yeah it was shown during the game that your team had indeed the better team and the better plays but your team didn't play football but MUAY THAI!
      we are not using that as an excuse that we lose because we would still lose if your team didn't play MUAY THAI because as i've said we admit your team is better as a whole and had better plays.
      what we're all saying is your team just doesn't know the MEANING OF SPIRIT OF FAIR PLAY!!!
      oh and if you want an excuse from us, this is it - that japanese ref was obviously paid.we were the ones bloodied and your team doesn't get cards. your GAY players act as if they elbowed,kneed,tripped and that japanese ref buys the ACTING.
      FOOTBALL IS NOT MUAY THAI AND ACTING YOU IDIOT!

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  3. I see this blog live traffic and it shows there are visitor from Ireland, United States, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines!!!! Yes the Philippines, I can't believe they has Internet over there. I thought all Philippine looks like Manny Pacquiao village.

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    1. Half-breeds? That's totally uncalled for, seeing that no insult was levelled at Thailand in the original post. You should be ashamed of yourself. I'm sure the Thai football association would distance themselves from such a comment.

      Maybe Thailand has a better development system, but seeing that they have not recently qualified for the World Cup, I hope the Philippines do not follow that system. Come to think of it, Thailand and the Philippines both sit in bottom third of FIFA rankings dont they? And Thais also use a foreign coach?

      Be a more gracious winner next time.

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    2. Maybe? No, the thais do have a better development system and it will take us a very long time to catch up. Its true that they havent qualified for a WC, but that doesnt mean they suck. Alot of teams in the top 50 seldomly qualifies for the WC. You talk like its the easiest things in the world. The azkals even had a hard time beating Mongolia. International football isnt easy. Its getting harder and harder as other nations are getting better. Even Timor Leste is suddenly winning games and getting better. We cant rely on the foreign based players forever. What we need is to develop the sport in our country. That should be the first step. Take note that eventhough the thais are ranked so low, a country in the top 50 with a decent league with teams participating in the champions league/euro league have a hard time beating the thais if those european countries field a team of players from their own premier league.

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    3. Why do bloggers keep putting words into other peoples mouths? Where did I say the Thais suck?

      Disagree with one or two words if you like but don't take the entire commentary out of context.

      And the pretext of my post was to point out the distasteful half-breed insult.

      You would defend your NT players against such insults wouldn't you?

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    4. Im a half-breef myself, and i dont really care. I am what i am. Even using the term fil-foreigner is bad for most fans, but hey, its what we are. That term has been user forever, and suddenly when the azkals gained popularity, it was suddenly bad and racist.

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  4. Ha ha even if Filipinos look like Manny Pacquiao. He has more money than you, can screw any woman he wants and gets VIP treatment anywhere. How about you random guy? Busy waiting tables ? Ha ha ha

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  5. Weiss still implements the 'long ball' mentality instead of 'total football' philosophy. He should be sacked if we can't qualify for the semi finals..

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  6. To the Thai who insults Filipinos, at least you admit that we have the size and the looks, what about you? Football can be learned but good looks are inborn, that's probably why you find cosmetic surgeons in every corner in Bangkok, because you want to match up with us in terms of looks, it's not too late to have one, why don't you try it at least you'll be a complete player with better looks.

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  7. Well we can match up with you (Thais) in football but how's youre basketball program, wer can send our high school team and still beat your national team by a mile, so stop insulting and start looking around.

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  8. True the Thais were so rough causing blood to spill on the faces of our Azkals players and hitting the head of our player si hard in the hope that their faces willl be interchanged... So desperate.... Im So sorry for your looks, I agree with the blogger above, consult your cosmetologist instead.

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  9. the hell did this blog degenerate? arguing over looks. lets talk about football!

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  10. Anonymous25 November 2012 07:36
    Anonymous25 November 2012 11:29

    agree, agree and agree....development...and what the hell why other are pissed of the term "fil-foreign".

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  11. that's how the TAEland play football, they play as if it's MUAY THAI and ACTING. an embarassing bunch they are.
    lololololololololololol

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