The Year In Sports: Azkals Attain Final Four Glory Twice
(Editor’s note: Yahoo! PH Sports looks back at the year that was with a series of blogs recalling the highlights and lowlights of Philippine sports.)
Any way you slice it, 2012 was a banner year for the Philippine Men's National Football team.
The Azkals played 32 games in 2012, of which nine were friendly scrimmages, and twenty two were full FIFA “A” international games. Another encounter, a friendly against Laos, a 2-1 loss, was stricken off the list of official International friendlies by FIFA because the Laotians made too many substitutes.
The 32 matches in 2012 was eight more than the squad played in 2011.
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But more importantly, the team ventured into uncharted territory with semifinal runs in the Challenge Cup and AFF Suzuki Cup, and a first title in almost a century in the Peace Cup.
Their Challenge Cup campaign in March started off inauspiciously in the rarefied Nepalese air with a 2-0 loss to defending and eventual champs, North Korea.
Two days later the Azkals rebounded with a handsome 2-0 win over India thanks to a pair of strikes by Phil Younghusband.
In the last group game the Philippines needed a win against Tajikistan. The Tajiks picked up a goal just before the half, but the Azkals showed character in the second 45 minutes.
Angel Guirado worked hard to pry the ball from a Tajik defender near the end line in the 54th minute. He centered it to an unmarked Phil Younghusband for the equalizer.
With ten minutes to go Guirado nodded in the go-ahead strike to make it 2-1 and book the Philippines' slot in the semifinals.
Against Turkmenistan the Azkals took the early lead with a rare headed goal by Phil Younghusband off a terrific pass from Paul Mulders.
But the fairytale would grind to a halt for the Azkals as Arslanmyrat Amanov and Gahryman Chonkayev scored twice in the last ten minutes for a come-from-behind 2-1 win. To make matters worse, Neil Etheridge was tossed for tripping a Tajik, rendering him suspended for the third place game.
The tournament ended on a happy note as his backup, Ed Sacapano, did just enough as the Philippines won the bronze medal game, 4-3. Phil Younghusband struck twice while the Guirado brothers tallied one score apiece.
Phil's haul of six strikes gave him the tournament's Golden Boot award as best scorer, three more than the next -most prolific scorer, North Korea's Pak Nam Chol.
The Azkals had a September to remember, sweeping aside Guam, Macau, and Chinese Taipei to win the Peace Cup. The silverware was nice, but it was wholly expected against those lower-ranked sides, even without the Younghusbands, who were acrimoniously dropped for that mini-tournament.
A greater achievement was to follow for the team in Bangkok for the AFF Suzuki Cup.
As they did in Nepal, the team lost their opening group game to a stylish Thailand, 2-1. Paul Mulders' maiden Azkals strike was really the team's only chance as the home team was dominant.
Deep into the second match against Vietnam, tied 0-0, came the turning point of the Cup. Chieffy Caligdong trotted on to the pitch as a sub and with less than five minutes to play, wrote another chapter to his legend.
His goal was straight out of the NFL: Angel Guirado played the role of quarterback and served up a deliciously-weighted pass. Caligdong was the wide receiver, splitting the seam of the zone defense and nudging the ball to his left, giving him a few precious yards between him and the defender. His stiff left-footed rocket zoomed over the keeper's shoulder. 1-0 final. The Philippines' flagging Suzuki Cup campaign had been spectacularly jolted alive.
Three days later the Philippines confirmed their place in the semifinals with a 2-0 win over Myanmar. Phil Younghusband scored just after the half with a fine effort, and Guirado exploited a stretched Burmese defense to score his eighth Azkal goal.
But as was the case in 2010, the Philippines was unable to find the net in 180 minutes of Suzuki Cup semifinals play, and bowed to Singapore 1-0 on aggregate.
The season ended on a downer, but nonetheless it was a year that Azkals fans can be proud of. The team emphatically proved that 2010 was no fluke. It has become clear we have no reason to fear teams anymore.
With European-bred players in all phases of the team, the Azkals cannot be taken lightly anymore, not even teams like Bahrain and Kuwait. During the Middle East tour we drew Bahrain 0-0 and lost a close one at Kuwait 2-1.
At 147th in the FIFA rankings, we are still seven slots clear of AFF champs Singapore. Only Vietnam and Thailand are ranked higher in the ASEAN Football Federation.
The Philippines now looks forward to 2013 and 2014 Challenge Cup qualifying, where we host Turkmenistan, Cambodia, and Brunei at home in March. Coach Michael Weiss speaks about the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and the only way for us to crash that party is to win the Challenge Cup.
The Azkals are leveling up, and the future definitely looks bright.
You can follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
