From Christian Jacinto
THE Philippine Azkals and Malaysia settled for a draw for a fifth straight time as their international friendly ended goalless on Wednesday evening at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Azkals struggled to find a breakthrough against the tough Harimao defense in a game that was fought mainly at midfield before a few hundred home fans.
In the end it was Malaysia which had the best scoring chance as Ahmad Bakwan Mazri's blistering run late in the match almost resulted in the winner.
Luckily for the hosts, his shot sailed right.
Not even late substitutions from coach Thomas Dooley could spark a resurgence for the Azkals, who six more days to fix their finishing before opening their 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers next Tuesday in the same venue against Nepal.
"Overall, I'm not happy that we tied but the most important game is Nepal next week. I'm happy with the performance of the players. I'm happy with how we performed," Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said.
"It was kind of the last pass into the box which was a little bit off. Otherwise we could have gotten the lead in the first half. And after the first goal, that could have been easier," he added.
Malaysia head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee was naturally delighted with how they fared against an almost full-strength Philippine side.
"Our defense went very well. We were very organized. We were able to counter whatever strength the Philippines had," he said.
Read more at http://www.spin.ph/football/news/thomas-dooley-unalarmed-after-azkals-pegged-back-by-malaysia-in-goalless-friendly#SHs1Tz6HFIqi0gCk.99
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Remember that Dooley was also unalarmed after Azkals scored 0-0 against Singapore in the Suzuki Cup. This is what he is supposed to do. If the Azkals start dropping points within the first 3 games of the Asian Cup qualifier, he will be in deep "kaka".
ReplyDeleteWhy should he be alarmed when hes got a long term contract? Lol. We are the ones who should be alarmed because we have to put up with this for 4 more years!
ReplyDeleteWell, you do not have to worry according to Cedelf.
ReplyDelete"Tupas, Cedelf (19 April 2016). "Dooley stays Azkals coach for another two years".
“We would have loved to win after 26 years (against Malaysia), but the most important thing is the Nepal game,” said Dooley, who is expected to ink a fresh deal that will see him handle the Azkals until the end of the qualifying campaign.
It looks like they will let him go regardless.