Philippine Daily Inquirer
BANGKOK—Throughout its rise over the past
two years, the Philippines has played almost every team in Southeast Asia except
for Thailand, a team whose footballing pedigree is almost unrivalled in the
region.
The Azkals finally get a crack at the
formidable Thais Saturday, undaunted by the prospect of playing a team with
plenty of quality and a winning tradition at the start of the AFF Suzuki Cup at
the 80,000-seater Rajamangala Stadium here.
It will be the first meeting between the
two sides since 2007, when the Thais routed the Filipinos, 4-0, in an AFF
Championship group match.
But a lot has changed since then
particularly for the Azkals, who pulled off one stirring result after another in
the 2010 tournament in Vietnam and showed steady improvement with the influx of
talented overseas-based players.
“You cannot be overwhelmed by the strength
of another team,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss. “Thailand has good quality
but it’s not a team to fear.”
Central defender Rob Gier and striker Phil
Younghusband believe getting a result would be “massive” for the Azkals.
“Getting a win or a draw would go a long
way for us and for our confidence,” said Younghusband, the country’s leading
international scorer with 27 goals.
Thailand also has a German coach in the
well-traveled Winfried Schaefer, who won the Africa Nations Cup with Cameroon in
2002, the same year the Thais lifted the regional crown.
“The Philippines is a very strong team,”
said Schaefer, who watched the Azkals’ 1-0 win over Singapore in a friendly last
week. “They have good fitness, good discipline and it’s not going to be easy.”
Weiss revealed his 22-man lineup for the
tournament yesterday, leaving out Neil Etheridge and Stephan Schrock.
But the German included goalkeeper Roland
Muller, whom he could tap if the Azkals go further in the tournament.
No comments:
Post a Comment