After the Philippines defeated Myanmar for the first time in
history, they will now meet Singapore in the Semi Finals, a team they
have already beaten twice this year in friendly games. The Philippines
finished second in the group, only dropping points to Thailand who
finished as group leaders, while Singapore topped Group B after
victories against Laos and hosts Malaysia.
Defeating Myanmar: Fitness and Organization
Reaching the Semi Finals was no easy task for the Philippines. Drawn in
the ‘Group of Death’, Group A had the top four ranked Southeast Asian
sides by the time the tournament kicked off. The key to progress in most
competitions, though, is preparation, and the Philippines played more
friendly matches and had more camps than any of their opponents.
Only eight players survived from the 2010 Suzuki Cup squad as a rapid
development and professionalization of the league has lifted the game in
the country, as five clubs in the UFL were represented in the 2012
squad.
With the US training camp and the Southeast
Asian and Middle East tours, the players were fit and ready to run for
ninety minutes. With a deep bench, those few who did tire were replaced
by players just as good.
After the game, speaking
on behalf of the Myanmar side, Tim Mying Aung, introduced as the
Assistant Coach, said at the press conference that compared to the
Philippine side: “We lacked fitness and football technique. The players
were tired.”
Indeed, after a fairly even first
half where neither side made any real scoring opportunities, the Azkals
dominated the second half. This has become a norm in the Suzuki Cup
group stage, where all the Azkals’ goals came in the second half. Phil
Younghusband grabbed his first goal of the Suzuki Cup, controlling a
perfectly flighted Jason De Jong pass, though the impact substitute was
Angel Guirado who changed the game after coming in early in the 35th
minute, hitting the post before wrapping up the win in injury time.
After the game, Coach Weiss first congratulated the team and noted: “We
have now worked on good communication within the team and we found a
concept of how to break down teams like Myanmar and also Vietnam. With
one move, [our players] can decide matches.”
Jason
De Jong, who provided the assist for the first goal, noted that the
team has been built from the defense upwards. “With Rob [Gier] and Juani
[Guirado] in the defense they couldn’t get through. And with me
cleaning up the second ball where are they going to go?”
Indeed, that strong Azkals backline has kept two clean sheets in the
three Suzuki Cup games and four clean sheets in the last six matches.
Myanmar could find no way through the defense, trying to work the
channels to avoid the strength and height of Gier and Guirado, but there
they only found more misery when confronted by Carli De Murga and
Dennis Cagara. De Murga put his body on line more than a few times
during the game and Cagara stood out to the point of being this writer’s
man of the match. In keeping Kyi Lin frustrated all game, and starting
the Azkals’ attacks with some sublime passing, Cagara not only shut out
Myanmar but put the Azkals on the counter attack.
No More Long Balls
Another key element in the transition of the Azkals has been the shift
from the long ball. Philippine football used to be dependent on hoofing
the ball upfield to an attacker on the counter, but over the last two
years, the Azkals have started to play some real quality football.
That work started with McMenemy, but Weiss has taken the Philippines to
another level in that regard. All their goals in the group stage came
from open play passes from Patrick Reichelt, Jason De Jong, Carli De
Murga, and two from Angel Guirado particularly carving open the
opposition’s defense and presenting the chance to score for the Azkals’
five goals so far.
The new quality of passing and
buildup play has meant that the Azkals have only failed to score three
times in their twenty one games so far in 2012, those being in goalless
draws with Cambodia and Bahrain, and the 2-0 loss to North Korea.
‘The Best is yet to Come’
Speaking of the transition, Weiss was very happy with the Azkals’
performances, saying that there is still more to come from the
Philippines: “[We are] very happy because we felt a bit of pressure, but
the team mastered this pressure and it shows the maturity has come a
very long way. The best is yet to come”.
The
German Coach was full of praise for his side and their progress since he
took over: “We got out of a very strong group. Since I have taken over,
we have made a lot of history.” Sitting next to him at the press
conference, Angel Guirado and Phil Younghsuband were both full of praise
for the progress of the Azkals too.
After opening
the scoring for the Azkals, Phil Younghusband spoke of his relief in
finding the net saying that, “As a striker you’re judged on goals and
get your confidence on goals. I’m just happy to get to the Semi Finals. I
feel recently, I’ve been working hard and tracking back and Coach Weiss
has really helped me in that respect. Eventually, it does pay off and
on a personal level it does feel good [to score].”
With the core of the side based in the UFL now giving the team the
chance to train together every week to improve the team chemistry and
cohesion, the Philippines have the resources to continue that progress
and continue to rewrite history.
On to the Semis
The Philippines will host Singapore on the 8th December before flying
to Singapore for the second leg on the 12th. In the other Semi Final
series, Group A winners Thailand will face Group B runners up Indonesia;
their games will be played on the 9th and 13th December, with the
aggregate winner facing the winner between the Philippines and
Singapore. - RAF, GMA News
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