by Olmin Leyba
BOCAUE, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals have come full circle in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.
From an outsider pre-2010, they forced themselves into the company of the regions elite. From a certified contender carrying high expectations six years later, they now found themselves plummeting back to the doghouse after a bungled campaign on home soil.
“We won’t shy away from it, it’s a disaster,” said Fil-German Stephan Schrock.
The Filipinos bombed out of the Last-4 picture after yielding a 0-1 heartbreaker to a Thailand side that, with an early semis qualification on hand, sat out top guns like Teerasil Dangda, Chanatip Songkram and Kawin Thamsatchanan.
It didn’t help any that the Azkals settled for back-to-back draws to start their bid, failing to get the maximum points in the opener against 10-man Singapore and rallying back to tie Indonesia.
“We’re really disappointed at the moment. But there’s always tomorrow and there’s always positive things to take away. We’ll analyze it and come back stronger,” Schrock said after his maiden Suzuki Cup stint got its worst possible ending.
The stars didn’t align to give the Azkals their shining moment in the very first Suzuki Cup held on Phl soil.
Regulars Patrick Reichelt and Simone Rota suffered season-ending injuries. Then so close to the tournament start, top striker Javier Patino and dependable centerback Daisuke Sato were deemed unavailable due to club commitments.
The team missed their steady presence in front, midfield and back.
Additionally, there were reportedly some issues needed to be resolved weeks before the tournament. Sources said training was stalled as they threshed out matters concerning the players’ allowances.
The expected crowd hardly came to the games to push the Azkals harder in the so-called Group of Death, as well.
Now it’s time to lick their wounds and do some serious soul-searching.
“The progression of football has been there and not qualifying for the semis, it feels disappointing because we have high expectations,” said skipper Phil Younghusband, who was switched from striker to holding mid in a deployment that some felt didn’t work out.
“We had such good players and we know the quality. So the circumstances of Philippine football at the moment, it’s not always easy,” he added.
Up next for the Azkals will be the third round of the qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
“We should do the right thing we need to do for the Asian Cup. We need to have good preparation, maybe four weeks of constant training,” said coach Thomas Dooley.
http://www.philstar.com/sports/2016/11/27/1647893/azkals-back-square-one-they-will-rise
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ReplyDeleteWhat we can do if we have doupoly business climate run by elite oligarchs.when it comes to investing they are very selective and talagang after ROI.pipiliin nila ang mag invest sa existing market ng basketball here at NCR rather than creating market for football.I don't see any wrong with azkals or soccer pero sa sports sa culture infested by red tapes na gawa ng mga officials from both private and gov't.The reason why PRRD strongly implementing FOI eo to expose corruptions from all sectors of gov't damay na pati private including reelected Poc chief peping & lahat ng Sport assocs run by civillian executives.
DeleteMost of those Indonesian that went to the PSS were actually employees of Indonesian Embassy with their Ambassador. while some of them have been living in the Phil. But there were also Indonesians who traveled from Indonesia just to support their NT but they weren't that many.
DeleteThey need to have a good preparation if they want fans to love them continuosly and create many followers cause AFC Asian Cup has all the top teams in our region including Japan, AUstralia, NoKor, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Qatar and many others. Plus if we still don't have a reliable defenders then better Dooley and company should stop talking about bouncing back strong in this kind of tournament.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSoccer isn't boring. What is though is YOU!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSo you're admitting you're boring. Brilliant! Now piss off!
DeleteAnother low life hiding under the anonymous log in. No point of even continuing with a comment.
DeleteAnother low life bigging themselves up because they supposedly use their real name. No point of even continuing with a comment!
DeleteI hope that they inject new blood to the squad. Most of the players are reaching their 30s.
ReplyDeleteOut with old ,in with the new.. The Original Little Azkals whom Marcos Casambre joined as a youth team back then are a force to be reckoned with if only they are trained together with the same coach and manager. The players are now with the different universities and colleges in Metro Manila and are influential in their teams. Their schools are UP, NU, UE, DLSU, DLSZ and IS Manila. They've been recently reunited last Sunday at Vikings with Noel Marcaida and Oliver Colina.
DeleteThere's that overrating crap again! Being competitive at U13 level doesn't it will be the same at older age groups let alone senior level!
DeleteThat's not overrating that's overseeing it asshole! You are such a loser and a pessimist no wonder people like you stays in the past and always adoring the foreign born people as Gods and saviors. You don't know about them? Try searching the UAAP and NCAA games and see who these players are. And they're not just competitive in U13 they're improving and evolving in their U18. So shame on you for losing trust on our locals. You are just an old jealous small time dirty player when you were young. Maybe you crave for your man crush foreigners...
ReplyDeleteLOL! You label them as a "force to be reckoned with" yet they haven't proven squat! If you want to continue overrating them... cge lang... eh di wow!!
DeleteUp and coming nga ang mga yan bobo mo naman mag isip. Halatang underrated player ka nung panahon mo. Btw, sila yung maganda ang record sa lahat ng National team natin na sumali sa mga AFC youth competitions and they even performed well sa Italy training camp with clubs like Palermo, Reginna Calcio and many others nung maglaban ang mga teams natin. Kaya kung ako sayo mag research ka muna bago ka umasta puro lng kasi dito sa blog nato bumabasa at doon sa FB. Kunsabagay present lng alam mo.
DeleteThere it is again! "Up and coming" pero "force to be reckoned with". The irony!
DeleteAgain, they havn't proven squat! Just because they showed some nous at u13 level doesn't translate to becoming a good player at older levels let alone senior level!
That's your problem, puro papuri kaagad wala pa nga napapatunayan!! Ikaw na yung sinasabihan ikaw pa ang offended!
If you want to continue overrating them na sayo yan.
Eh di wow!!
Nag co-comment lng na ganun na mga achievements nila since U13 negative kana agad? Wla namang nagsasabi na they can translate it to Mens level pero lahat naman cguro ng magagaling na player buong mundo dumaan sa mga edad na yan ang husay nila at madadala nila yan sa paglaki as long as they keep doing their best and be always competitive. Ang gusto lng ipaliwanag sa taas ay malaking tsansa kung majority ng grupo nila ang magkasabay sa Mens dahil nandun na yung chemistry ng team which is a very hard thing to develop and will take years to perfect pag puro tayo kuha ng kuha ng foreign based pinoys. Pero sa pananalita mo na parang wla kang naintindihan o sadyang wla ka talagang bilib sa kapwa mo pinoy na dito ipinanganak at lumaki eh sadyang mababa talaga ang kokote mo. Ikaw ang may problema dahil pessimist ka at hindi bagay maging fan ng isang national team. O baka inggit ka lng sa mga locals na yan dahil magagaling maglaro at hindi katulad mo na isang paa lng ang pwede sumipa? Puro lng cguro kabulastugan alam mo dahil mahilig ka pala sa Eh di Wow ni Joey de Leon. Magbasa ka nlng ng football articles para may alam ka paano maipanalo ng isang koponan ang isang malaking torneo at kung ano ang preparasyon kailangan nila (long term at short term). O ayan assignment mo yan. Kulang ka pa sa idea about football.
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