Sacapaño superb as Azkals nip Singapore, 1-0

The Philippine Azkals concluded their preparations for the AFF Suzuki Cup with a rousing 1-0 victory over the visiting Singapore Lions at the jampacked Cebu City Sports Complex.

Substitute Marwin Angeles scored the match’s lone goal in the 55th minute off a one-touch pass from Patrick Reichelt following a cross from Phil Younghusband from the right flank. Singapore had several chances to find the back of the net, but goalkeeper Eduard Sacapano put on a superb performance, parrying several good Singaporean shots, including a big save of a penalty kick in first-half injury time.

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“Focus lang sa bola, at maghanda lang sa sarili na makuha ang shots nila,” said Sacapano, a Philippine Army stalwart who will most likely be the Azkals’ first choice keeper in the Suzuki Cup following the unavailability of Neil Etheridge.

The win was the Azkals’ second straight over Singapore, following a 2-nil win over the Lions last September 7 in Singapore. It also augurs well for the team as they plunge into action in Thailand next week when Group A action of the AFF Suzuki Cup gets underway in Bangkok.

[RELATED: Singapore 0, Azkals 2: Postgame thoughts]

Singapore controlled the action for much of the first half, creating more chances and shots on goal, but Sacapano proved up to the task, coming up with huge save after huge save and capping off his first-half performance by saving a penalty kick awarded to Singapore in the second minute of injury time following a dubious foul called on Jeff Christiaens at the edge of the penalty box.

The back four of Rob Gier, Juani Guirado, Cebu native Ray Jonsson and Christiaens also came up big for the entire match, thwarting several Singaporean attacks.

The Younghusband brothers Phil and James sat out the entire first half but were finally fielded in for the second half along with Angeles, and almost immediately the pace of the Azkals' attack quickened, and they finally broke through with that goal by Angeles. Dennis Wolf had a number of chances to double the score, but his header the bar on one occasion and was brilliantly deflected by the Singaporean keeper on another late in the match.

Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss was effusive in his praise for his keeper, saying after the match, 'If Etheridge or (Roland) Muller are available for the Suzuki Cup that's a big plus, but with Ed we are in good hands."