Azkals 1, Turkmenistan 0. Another Big Step
The Philippines gutted out a tough win with plenty against them. The most remarkable detail of this win is that Turkmenistan had 48 more hours to prepare for this match up than the Azkals did. Turkmenistan, if you recall, last played Cambodia on Friday, while the Philippines met the Indochinese last Sunday. Thanks to Brunei's withdrawal, Turkmenistan rested on Sunday.
The tempo of the game wasn't terribly quick, which also might have favored our slightly winded legs.
The Philippines was also missing Paul Mulders, who was shown a red card against Cambodia. Fortunately Chris Greatwich was more than a capable replacement, with a few positive plays and even one half-chance at goal that just slipped away from his control.
It's fitting that the Kaya mid got a full 90 minute shift on Tuesday. He was harshly ignored during the Suzuki Cup, which was baffling since the midfield was where the Azkals had plenty of issues in Thailand.
I keep dreading the day when this team runs out of gas and disappoints us. But this plucky bunch just finds a way to get it done in spite of adversity.
ALSO READ: Azkals 8, Cambodia 0. Postgame thoughts on a wild one.
Phil scored, but give props to Dennis Cagara. The Azkals left back did the hard work on the goal, hustling to relieve Shohrat Soyunov of the leather and send it off Javier Patiño to a very fortitously placed Phil Younghusband.
Younghusband gained yet another luck break when his shot clanged off another Turkmen defender and deflected past Rahmanberdi Alyhanov.
Teams need luck to win in any sport, and we had our share on Tuesday against a very solid Turkmenistan side. The Green Men were a few lucky breaks away from getting the win themselves and they will be a worthy opponent in Maldives.
Cagara had a sparkling evening at left back and was a legitimate box-to-box threat.
Marielle Benitez and I wanted to give the Man of the Match award to Phil but we were told that the Match Commissioner from Kyrgyzstan forbade us from interviewing the dismissed striker. That was akin to saying that he couldn't get MOTM, so Cagara got the nod. It was a deserved win.
ALSO READ: Phil's goal lifts Azkals past Turkmenistan.
I can understand Neil Etheridge not starting, but its harder to fathom why he wasn't even on the bench. Out of a squad of 23 players, a head coach then selects eighteen who will dress and can play. Then from the eighteen, eleven start, with the three substitutes coming from the remaining seven players on the bench.
I'm okay with the Fullham keeper not starting. The rest of the team already had one match under their belt with Müller and it was okay not to disrupt that harmony.
But Etheridge didn't even make the eighteen. He watched the game from the grandstand in street clothes and signed autographs and posed for pictures.
In my opinion Neil should have been on the bench. We need our best players on the pitch and the next-best ones ready for action. No disrespect to Ed Sacapaño but Neil surely should have been available had Müller gotten hurt or sent off.
Dan Palami told me afterwards that “it would have been harder if Neil would have been on the bench but not playing.” It's a logic that I have a little trouble swallowing.
I chatted with Etheridge before the game and he seemed relaxed, cheerful, and at peace with the decision. He told me that Fullham has a game on Monday and that he will be in the squad.
How can a player make the eighteen in a club in the best league in the world but not in the 145th-ranked national team?
ALSO READ: Heat make Magic vanish, extend win streak to 27.
Phil Younghusband's red card could haunt us. It was a mixed evening for Phil. He picked up his 33rd international goal, more than double the total of Chieffy Caligdong, who is second on the list of active players.
But he was yellow carded by referee Wang Di for a handball in the box that was so blatant that Phil didn't even contest it.
Then late in the second half he helped himself to two fistfuls of Turkmenistan jersey in a challenge for a ball. It wasn't pretty on the replay and Younghusband got his marching orders. Wang did make some funky calls during the game, but that wasn't one of them.
The Asian Football Confederation stipulates that if you pick up a red card in an AFC competition, you must serve the one-match ban in an AFC competitive match as well, not a friendly. That's why Etheridge was forbidden from playing against Cambodia last Sunday.
Since the AFC Challenge Cup is the next competition we are slated to join, it appears that Younghusband will sit out the first group game in Maldives. If we face a tough opponent for our first outing then get into a low-scoring dogfight, we could miss him bad.
ALSO READ: Beckham should not have gone to China, says doctor.
The game atmosphere was wanting. The crowd seemed even smaller than that from the Cambodia game. And for most of the goalless first 66 minutes, it feeled strangely subdued, broken only by an occasional Azkal chance and bursts of cheers from the Kaholeros and Ultras Filipinas.
Again we can blame the ticket prices. A fuller house might have added more buzz to the crowd. Hopefully prices can once again dip down to Peace Cup levels, where fifty pesos got you into the green and blue bleachers, and the center white bleachers, if I recall correctly, went for just P300.
We have a great home-field advantage, and with a full stadium, it can even be more intimidating.
The Azkals now need to address the elephant in the room: the lack of young centerbacks. Gier is 32. Juani Guirado turns 34 in August. These guys will probably be fine for Maldives. But what about beyond that?
The Azkals need young blood in one of the most sensitive and important positions on the field. There are precious few solid Filipino centerbacks in the UFL. Thanks to the league's inability to institute a cap on foreigners, almost every team relies on non-Pinoys for that job.
Right now the cupboard is bare. Aly Borromeo is recovering from knee surgery again. Jason Sabio is back in law school. Jason Cordova is a great option but seems to have been ignored by the Azkals. Jason De Jong is really midfielder and lacks the height for the position. (why are all our centerbacks named Jason?)
For sure there might be great Filipino centerbacks in Europe and the states. They need to be found immediately and be given International experience as soon as possible.
The team is in a good place, on a real high. We need forward planning to keep that momentum going forward.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
