Under pressure: Azkals – Papua New Guinea Preview
Gilas Pilipinas isn’t the only Philippine national team under the microscope these days.
After failing to win the third Peace Cup via a 3-2 loss to Myanmar, our Philippine football team is also feeling the heat from fans. On Sunday Thomas Dooley’s troops will have their chance to reintroduce that winning vibe when they meet Papua New Guinea for the very first time at 8 pm in Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The hastily-scheduled match was a replacement for an away friendly with Malaysia. Cedelf Tupas from the Inquirer has since reported that that match may eventually push through in early November, after the October 31 game against Nepal in Doha, Qatar.
The Philippines is deep in preparation for the Suzuki Cup which kicks off on November 22 in Vietnam with a first group game against the runner-up of the qualifying tournament.
Papua New Guinea are tied for 199th in the world according to FIFA, along with Cambodia and the British Virgin Islands. Even the Cayman Islands is ranked higher, at 198. The East African nation of Eritrea sits just below the Papuans at 202.
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Before a friendly 2-1 loss to Singapore last month, PNG hadn’t played since a June of 2012, when they drew to Fiji 1-1. They also went without playing any matches from 2007 to 2011.
But those who underestimate PNG do so at their peril.
The most popular sport in Papua New Guinea is rugby league, a variant of rugby that is different from the rugby union played by our Philippine Volcanoes. But football is played too, and there is a proper national league.
How good can this PNG team be? One player comes to mind.
Oktavianus Maniani is a hellishly quick Indonesian midfielder who bedeviled the Philippines in the 2010 Suzuki Cup semifinals, scoring both goals in the aggregate 2-0 win by the Merah Puti in Jakarta. Maniani hails from Jayapura, a city in the Indonesian province of Papua, which is on the west part of the island of New Guinea. The east bit is Papua New Guinea.
Ethnically the Indonesian Papuans are similar to the Papua New Guineans. So for all we know we could be facing a team full of Oktovianuses on Sunday. I hope not.
At any rate, as that 2-1 result against Singapore shows, this is not a team to be taken lightly. The 65-rank difference in the FIFA rankings may not be felt that much. The visitors will be coached by Wynton Rufer, a Kiwi who played 23 times for New Zealand and scored twelve goals.
Rufer is taking along nine players who did not play in the Singapore match, so this could be an experimental squad for him. While the majority of his charges play in the PNG league, two, according to internet sources, play in Australia. It’s not clear if they will make the trip.
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The Philippines, on the other hand, will play with a very similar squad from the Peace Cup, with some additions. Chieffy Caligdong and Jeff Christiaens, two left-sided players, are back in the selection along with Paolo Bugas from FEU and keeper Nick O’Donnell from Kaya. It appears that Patrick Deyto will be the first-choice goalie.
OJ Porteria, who flew back from the USA just last October 8, has been excluded along with Carlie De Murga. De Murga may be hurt.
Dooley has options now on the left flank. It will be very interesting if he continues with his experiment of playing Kenshiro Daniels at right back. I say he goes with Rota at right back.
I suspect Bugas may get a run-out in the second half. Bugas is a real talent who has speed, dribbling skill, composure, a good footballing head on his shoulders, and two useful feet. The Nabunturan, Compostela Valley product can play in the center of the pitch or on the wings.
All eyes will be on Deyto, who could very well be the #1 for the Philippines in the Suzuki Cup if Roland Muller or Neil Etheridge are not available.
It’s just a friendly, but coach Thomas Dooley wants to inject a winning spirit back into the side after the disappointment of the Peace Cup. Nothing less than a victory against this mystery team will be good enough to please the Azkals’ loyal fans.
POSSIBLE STARTING XI STUDY 1
James YH
Caligdong Phil YH Reichelt
CGreatwich Ott
Sato Gier Aguinaldo Rota
Deyto
STUDY 2
Reichelt
Bahadoran Phil YH James YH
DeJong Ott
Sato Gier Aguinaldo Rota
Deyto
Kickoff is 8pm on Sunday, October 12 at the Rizal Memorial stadium. Tickets will be available at the gate or on this Ticketworld link. You can watch the match for just P60.
If you can’t watch the match live, ABS-CBN Sports and Action will air the game live with coverage beginning at 7:45pm.
Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.
