In a match almost everyone thought would end in a blowout loss, the Philippine Azkals played one of their most impressive matches in recent history, giving heavily favored South Korea all they could handle before conceding a 0-1 decision in their AFC Asian Cup debut at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Even though their first-ever match in Asia's most prestigious football tournament ended in defeat, it was a performance that exceeded expectations. Korea, after all, was runner-up to Australia four years ago and is ranked 53rd in the world compared to the Azkals' 116th. They enter this tournament as one of the favorites, and just six months ago shocked the world by upsetting defending champion Germany, 2-0, in the World Cup.
"In the first half I thought we played extremely well," defender Luke Woodland said after the match. "We're a good team. We want to go through."
The Azkals certainly looked like a good team, more than holding their own in the first half, with Alvaro Silva anchoring a solid back line that thwarted a Korean offense that had possession 82% of the time. They even created a chance in the 41st minute, with Javier Patiño volleying a lob from Daisuke Sato that goalkeeper Kim Syeung-Gyu had to work hard to deflect out. The Azkals' 5-4-2 formation gave their favored foes all sorts of problems, although on offense they generally lacked that one extra pass or touch to create chances.
The Azkals came out more aggressive at the start of the second half, and Patiño had an excellent chance in the 49th with a wide-open shot from inside the box that Kim had to dive to save.
Korea finally broke through in the 67th minute when Hwang Ui-Jo struck from close range on an assist from Hwang Hee-Chan. Hwang Ui-Jo nearly scored again in the 74th with only Michael Falksgaard to beat from five yards out, but the Azkals keeper did well to parry it out.
Still, it was a noteworthy result, with several players standing out. Aside from Silva and Patiño, Stephan Schrock put on a vintage performance in midfield, while Falksgaard manned the posts well.
The Azkals joined fellow newcomer Kyrgyzstan, which lost to China 1-2, in the cellar of Group F, but thanks to the low scoreline are still in position to claim one of the four slots in the knockout round reserved for third-placed teams.
The Azkals next take on China on January 11.
NOTES:
- Sven-Goran Eriksson made a last-minute change to the 23-man lineup, inserting defender Amani Aguinaldo for veteran Paul Mulders.
- Stephan Schrock wore the captain's armband for this historic match.
- Phil Younghusband did not start and entered the game in the 88th minute
http://tv5.espn.com/story/_/id/25705376/azkals-drop-0-1-decision-powerhouse-korea
waiting on the counter attack again?
ReplyDeleteI say they had put up a good defense against the Taeguk warriors.
ReplyDeleteif you dun attack u cannot score.
DeleteSimple concept how to win football game.
What, you expected us to play like Barcelona and have most of the possession? We're not capable of that yet. We played the only way we could and that is by absorbing pressure then trying to counter-attack.
DeletePhilippines played a solid performance in an ultra defensive formation of 5-4-1. Coach SVE was a great tactician against a very attack minded and dynamic Korean team who mostly played in Bundesliga, EPL and K-League but it seems their attack was not that as planned because their only play was to give the ball to Patino and we hadn't seen any link ups in their counter attacks which didn't create much threat in the final third. Unlike the Indians when they attack you can see the numbers they are into and a pattern of attack was established. So quick and so fluid the links ups as Chetri as their sublime finisher. Patino has an excellent technical ability in finishing but without help and supply from his team mates Azkals could only rely on a miracle strike which it didn't come last night at Al Maktoum Stadium. I hope we can continue our focus against China this friday.
Deletelets keep hoping for the miracle to happen.
Delete