Azkals rise despite back-to-back losses

By: Cedelf P. Tupas / @inquirerdotnet

The Philippine Azkals once again topped the latest Fifa (international football association) rankings among Southeast Asian teams, but manager Dan Palami stressed the need to reinforce that status in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup next month.

Despite two losses early this month to Bahrain (1-3) and North Korea (1-3), the Azkals still managed to move up one notch to No. 124 as the rankings also take into account results of the past three years.

But Palami said the rankings count for nothing now, especially if the Azkals underperform in the Suzuki Cup which the country is hosting for the first time.

“The rankings won’t count if we don’t play well in the Suzuki Cup,” Palami told the Inquirer. “At the end of the day, the Suzuki Cup is the barometer as to who is the best team in Southeast Asia.”

From underdogs in 2010 when they stunned Vietnam on their way to the Last Four for the first time, the Azkals are now one of the favorites after three straight semifinal appearances in the biennial tournament.

Azkals coach Thomas Dooley, however, expressed concern over the team’s performance against Bahrain and North Korea as the squad struggled defensively. They are short on options in defense following the retirement of several key players as well as injuries and club commitments.

The Azkals still have one friendly match—against Kyrgyzstan—to address their weaknesses before battling Singapore on Nov. 19 at Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan. They also take on Indonesia on Nov. 22, before wrapping up their group assignments versus defending champion Thailand three days later.

Vietnam, which is seeing action in Group B with Malaysia, Myanmar and the top team in the qualifying round, is the second-ranked team in the region at No. 138, followed by Thailand at No. 146.

http://sports.inquirer.net/226655/azkals-rise-despite-back-to-back-losses

FIFA World Ranking October - Philippines highest ranked in ASEAN

AFF Suzuki Cup

Azkals hope to overcome Kyrgyzstan

By Olmin Leyba

MANILA, Philippines - Higher-ranked Kyrgyzstan will provide the Philippine Azkals another big test and good workout ahead of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup when they clash again in an international friendly on Nov. 9 at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The 108th-ranked Kyrgyz will actually fly to Manila all the more determined to win and get back at the 125th-ranked Pinoy booters, who dealt them a 1-2 home loss in their Sept. 6 friendly over in Bishek.

The Azkals, for their part, will seek to score a repeat and a confidence-booster following their disappointing 1-3 setbacks to Bahrain and North Korea in their recent friendlies, also at the Rizal pitch.

“There’s one game to go before the Suzuki Cup and it will be nice to win it to get confidence back in the team going into the Suzuki Cup,” said Iain Ramsay.

The Pinoy booters are expected to return to training camp in the last week of October in the final push for the Asean tournament, which the country will be hosting for the first time beginning Nov. 19 at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan.

“Everybody can see we have a lot to do but still enough time to learn from our mistakes, improve some things, and get better, fitter, and fresher (for the Suzuki Cup),” said Stephan Schrock.

Phl XI is bunched with champion Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia in Group A of the Suzuki Cup, aiming to make the most of the home advantage to advance to the semis for the fourth straight tournament and eventually the finals.

http://www.philstar.com/sports/2016/10/18/1634704/azkals-hope-overcome-kyrgyzstan?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Neil Etheridge’s advice to the Azkals: ‘The team needs to have a strategy in the knockout rounds’

By Anthony Suntay

The Suzuki Cup, the region’s premier tournament for football, is primarily credited for the resurgence of the sport here in the country.

After a breakthrough performance six years ago, it brought the Azkals, our national squad, on equal footing with other teams like Gilas Pilipinas.

Players like Phil and James Younghusband, Chieffy Caligdong, and Neil Etheridge became household names.

The Younghusband brothers will again be competing, Chieffy has retired from international competition and is now on the coaching staff. Neil was raring to be on the squad, but because of duties with his domestic league in the UK, he will not be able to tend the goal in the Azkals campaign.

Here are his thoughts as the Suzuki Cup hits town in a few weeks, with our country hosting the event for the very first time.

PHILIPPINE STAR: It must be tough for you to be missing another Suzuki Cup.

NEIL ETHERIDGE: It’s disappointing for me on a personal level because the experiences that I gained from that cup competition when I was younger were second to none, the atmosphere, the intensity, and the teams pulling together to gain victory.

Is it even more disheartening that this year it’ll be played in Manila?

The competition being played on home soil, of course, is even more frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do about the games being held outside international dates so I try not to think about the situation, but no doubt I will be watching and cheering the Azkals on from England.

The supporters in Manila will play a large factor, getting behind the team and cheering it on, acting as the 12th player. Our past home performances have been good so I hope that this can continue into the Suzuki Cup.

But the squad looks solid, despite your absence.

The team has looked strong and resilient in the past games that I played in. I know we still have some injuries, but the squad has looked compact and together with a great changing room atmosphere which plays a big part.

Your advice to the Azkals?

I don’t think it really matters what group we were drawn into, both look extremely hard, maybe with our group being slightly more difficult. I believe the team needs to really take each game on its own merit. Each individual game will be tough and have its own hurdles to jump.

But thinking about the semi-finals too early may be a downfall.

First, the team will need to concentrate on getting out of the group and then have a strategy, playing both home and away, in the knockout rounds.

On a personal note, how are you doing in your domestic league?

The season started with a great win, followed by a few results that didn’t go our way, but I could see potential. The team is completely new from last year, very young and some with minimal experience.

As the season goes on, I’m sure we will gel even more on the field, as behind the scenes, the team has a great work ethic and atmosphere.

On a personal level, I have been playing well and I know I need to keep it up throughout the season to play my part in this team.
The league this season is extremely hard. Former Premier League side Bolton was unbeaten until it came to our place. And that also shows maybe the importance of home court advantage.

http://www.philstar.com/health-and-family/2016/10/18/1634533/neil-etheridges-advice-azkals-team-needs-have-strategy-knockout

2016 United Football League - Global 0-5 Ceres-La Salle

CERES CRUSH GLOBAL 5-0

After two years of draws and losses, Ceres-La Salle finally exorcised their Global ghost by crushing the recently crowned league champions 5-0 last October 16 at the Rizal Stadium. Adrian Gallardo topscored with a brace with three other players scoring a goal each.

The Bacolod squad came in the match with the desire to win as a loss would derail the goal of getting the AFC Cup spot which awarded to number two team in the league. It was Ceres who started to threaten early in the 8th minute when Stephan Schrock’s shot from past the half-line beat Global keeper Patrick Deyto but unluckily bounced against the crossbar. The Busmen were controlling the match early on but the Global defense were behind the ball. Bienvenido Maranon and Galalrdo would carve their own chances in the first half hour.

Global then started to get more of the ball which resulted to Hikaru Minigeshi getting a free header in the 30th minute which forced Michael Casas to tap it away for safety. The Busmen would open the scoring eight minutes after when Schrock’s corner was headed by Carli de Murga towards Gallaardo who then chested it down and blasted it to the roof of the net. Jeffrey Christaens would double the lead in the 43rd minute when his deep cross had enough english to go past Deyto and into the goal. In injury time, Global’s Arthur Kouassi was sent off after getting his second yellow card due to a bad challenge on de Murga.

Ceres didnt waste time after the restart after Orman Okunaiya tapped in a well-worked cross by Gallardo to push the lead to 3-0 after 48 minutes. They took control of the possession producing good shots from Ott and Gallardo but Deyto was there to produce great saves. Global would have a chance of their own in the hour mark when Minigeshi tried to bend one from outside the box but Casas was there to easily collect.

Global would maintain their defensive effort with Ceres finding it difficult to break through. In the 80th minute, Christaens ran half the field in a counter and crossed to ball to Bienvenido Maranon who made no mistake and pushed the scoreline to 4-0. The 2016 champions tried from the restart to pull a goal back when Minigeshi run lead to a Matt Hartmann shot from the edge of the box that went wide. Moments later it was Christaens again who darted into the left flank, cutting inside and rifling a right footed shot into goal. Deyto tipped the ball up but still rolled towards goal and was tapped in by Gallardo. The Spanish player was however called for offside.

Ceres-La Salle would still push in the dying minutes with Maranon lofting the ball ahead to de Murga, who controlled the ball once and issued a powerful volley which was tapped out by Deyto. The busmen would complete the route when a broken play allowed Marwin Angels to beautifully flicked the ball to Gallardo to smash in the fifth and final goal for Ceres.

“The game was very important for us so the key was defending good, we told (them) before the game, and the guys I think they did very well. So in the second half it was very difficult to speak about the game because they were a man less so the game was over when they received the red card,” said Ceres Coach Risto Vidakovic. “We must win the next game also because its the most important game right now for us and we have one week to prepare (for) it. I hope that we will play like today,” he added.

The win by Ceres has narrowed down the race for second place between them and Loyola Meralco. The Sparks will play Stallion on Saturday and a draw or a loss will automatically put Ceres in second place. Should Loyola win, Ceres will need to beat  JP Voltes on Sunday to return to the AFC Cup.

http://ceresfootball.com/ceres-crush-global-5-0/

UFL Sunday , Ceres win against Global