Cambodia 0, Azkals 0 Postgame Thoughts
You shouldn't be allowed to play FIFA International matches on fields this bad. The pitch in Phnom Penh's National Stadium looks nice and verdant on TV. But early on we could tell that it had more in common with the University of Makati's notorious moonscape than Old Trafford's putting green. Every ground ball did a hop, skip and jump. And once the heavens opened up, the slipping and sliding began. The pitch was probably to blame on many dicey moments for the Azkals, like Etheridge's sliced clearance, Reichelt's scuff to the keeper, and Denis Wolf's late attempt at a cross that he could only poke into the side netting.
The field looked as if it needed to be rolled or flattened with a road grader to make it even. Either that or like UMak, it is not FIFA-spec. FIFA requires a field to have six layers of dirt, sand, and topsoil for optimum performance on proper pitches.
The subpar field prevented us from playing the fluid possession game that we know we are capable of with guys like Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena, and Marwin Angeles.
FIFA should have some kind of guidelines for pitch quality that should be strictly adhered to for International games. It was embarrassing when we forced Malaysia to play on a cow pasture at Rizal Memorial earlier in the year, and it is just as egregious now that we have to travel and play on such a bad surface. The second half deluge only made things worse.
On a better field and without the rain, for sure the Philippines could have won that game. And yet the sad fact remains...
The Philippines' finishing just wasn't there. The Azkals outshot the Angkor Warriors 18-5 and ruled the Shots On Goal stat 11-3. And yet the game finished with goose eggs on the scoreboard. Every team needs a ruthless striker who can beat the keeper with every chance he gets. The Philippines missed that against Cambodia. The pitch can take some of the blame for the funny bounces but in the end, the boys did not convert. This Cambodian team is simply not very good, with one decent midfielder in Sun Sopanha and a strike force in Khim Borey and Keo Sokngon that is very, very average. But we couldn't outscore them.
I was pleased with Coach Weiss' subs. Okay, perhaps Phil's 65th minute exit was premature, but for all we know he might have hurt himself. And his replacement, Denis Wolf, once again failed to add to his tally of one Azkal goal in full internationals. But every other change went well for the German coach.
I liked Jason De Jong coming in for Rob Gier for two reasons. One, Gier did have a solid half with some nice tackles, but Cambodia sat back all throughout the game, and defending air with three defenders is just as good as defending it with four.
De Jong brings more attacking verve to the team that Gier doesn't offer, and in fact the Azkals seemed to switch to a hyper-aggressive 3-5-2 formation in the second half. Two, Weiss knows that in just 48 hours the Azkals must play a much stronger Singapore team. He was smart to rest Gier's thirtysomething legs for that game, and that same logic also makes Lucena's giving way to Reichelt a great idea.
Reichelt reprised his role of impact sub from the Chicago Inferno game with aplomb, showing speed, strength, work rate and moxie in creating headaches for the Cambodians. He deserves a start sooner than later. All he needs is deadlier finishing.
Misagh Bahadoran checked in with fourteen minutes to go and, after collecting a clearance from Etheridge, produced a lovely pass to Reichelt that almost resulted in a goal. Bahadoran is much-maligned for his overdribbling but on Wednesday his distribution nearly caused a breakthrough.
Anto Gonzales had a brief stint in the midfield, and I'd love to see him for a whole half so he can truly settle and shine. (Fat chance of that happening with Schrocky available for Singapore and Laos, sadly.) OJ Porteria was given a ten-minute run out and made at least one good pass. Kaya FC is chomping at the bit to release him on UFL defenses and his technical ability, passing vision, and youth are all upsides. It was great to see him get a full senior cap.
Cambodia showed us where ASEAN Football is heading: younger and taller. Coach Hok Sochetra unveiled a team that was much taller than I expected. Supanha, Yaty, and defender Tieng Tiny are all good International-sized players. Same for some of their substitutes.
This is also a very very young team. Yaty is just 20 (his eagerness to venture out of the box is perhaps an indication of his youthful bravado), Borey is 22, and strike partner Sokngon only 20. The oldest defender is Tiny, who just turned 26. The most senior members of the Angkor Warriors are Supanha, the captain at 27, and Teab Vathanak, who did not start, also 27. That's it. Nobody is older.
The current Azkals plus recent call-ups are an Old Folks Home in comparison. Mulders is 31, just like Anto Gonzales and Rob Gier. Lucena is 32. Wolf gets to the big three-o in January. Ian Araneta is already there. Aly Borromeo is 29, as are Caligdong and reserve keeper Ref Cuaresma. The number three backup goalie, Ed Sacapano is 32. Ray Jonsson is 33, just like Juani Guirado. Chris Greatwich is 29 later this month. Dennis Cagara is 28 in February. When you go deeper down the bench it gets worse. Boogie Margarse is 36, and at 38, Roel Gener is just two years away from optional retirement from the Philippine Army.
I hope that after the Suzuki Cup the torch gets passed to the younger players. Porteria is just 18. The 24-year old Reichelt has many miles left on his odometer. Carli de Murga, the Angeles brothers, Jeffrey Christiaens, Manny Ott, Jason de Jong, Etheridge, and other youngsters deserve to form the nucleus for the next generation. And don't forget talented young homegrown players like Neckson Leonora, Joven Bedic, Aldrin Dolino, Jake Morallo, Patrick Deyto, Tating Pasilan and Balot Doctora.
It was a good performance but a not-so-good result. That's simply how Football goes. The better team didn't win. We hope that come Friday a better result awaits.
You can follow Bob Guerrero on Twitter @bhobg333.
