Azkals open 2011 campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mongolia

This appears in the Thursday February 10, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Azkals open 2011 campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mongolia

by rick olivares

PANAAD, BACOLOD CITY - The Azkals began their Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup campaign with a 2-nil victory over a visiting Mongolian side that hardly showed any lethal bite Wednesday night before an overflow crowd at the Panaad Stadium.

The home side’s first goal came in the 43rd minute when Emelio “Chieffy” Caligdong took a long cross from the right wing from Anton del Rosario and broke his man down to nail one from close range against a helpless Mongolian keeper Ganbayar Tseveensuren.

Caligdong ditched his defender with a nifty sidestep then he blasted the ball right through Tseveensuren’s legs for the goal.

The goal was especially sweet for Caligdong, who hails from Barotac Nuevo in nearby Iloilo.

Ironically, Caligdong has been contemplating on hanging up his boots to take up coaching. After he got injured in the qualifying stages of the 2010 Suzuki Cup, the former Azkals team captain struggled with his game and came off the bench during the group stage match against Myanmar and for the semifinal series with Indonesia.

“People were expecting goals. I was hoping that we'd score more. But that's football. This is a good start for us. Now our opponents will respect us. This is just the start. We have lots to work on,” said the Azkals’ German coach Michael Weiss.

Weiss was all praises for Caligdong. Chieffy was fantastic. He's been in fine form and that showed. He is in my mind—the man of the match,” he said.

Caligdong was in cloud nine with his goal.

“Masaya naman naka-goal. Sobra. Lalo na home crowd natin. Para sa bayan to,” said Caligdong, who noted the Mongolians had targeted Phil Younghusband during the match. “Naka-focus sila masyado kay Phil kaya nabigyan kami ng mga chances na makatulong.”

With the successful Suzuki Cup showing and the Azkals in the eye of an unprecedented media and sponsorship storm, Caligdong decided to keep on playing. Against the 182nd-ranked Mongolia, Caligdong, easily the man of the match, sent numerous crosses inside the box for Ian Araneta, Phil Younghusband and Simon Greatwich, who came on as a second-half substitute for Roel Gener. But all three muffed their chances.

The Mongolians, who call themselves the “Blue Wolves,” played a highly physical match where they seemed more intent on playing defense in the hope of eking out a draw.

Striker Phil Younghusband was a marked man from the beginning by defender Ochbayar Olzvoi that caused quite a few tense moments as the Mongolian would elbow and knock down the former Chelsea reserve.

But the Filipino-Briton’s hard work was rewarded when he received a pass inside the box from Fil-American defender Jason Sabio, who made his Azkals debut when he replaced Anton del Rosario in the 68th minute.

With the Mongolian defenders momentarily leaving Sabio unmarked inside, he found Younghusband whose volley took a wicked curve under a diving Tseveensuren. Younghusband’s goal came in the third minute of injury time.

Midfielder Pagamsuren Atlantulga was shown the red card in the 24th minute after a late tackle on James Younghusband and the Blue Wolves, already playing a defensive game, began to park the bus with Olzvoi giving up the marking of Younghusband.

The Philippines put their brand new passing game on full display that is geared towards possession and quality scoring chances. And it paid dividends as they pressured Tseveensuren all game long.

But there were a few anxious moments where miscues gave the Mongolians two scoring chances. “I couldn’t understand why my player was given a second yellow card. That made it a lot difficult for us,” said Mongolia coach Erdenebat Sanadagdorj. “The series is not yet ended though. We’ll go back to Mongolia, prepare and hope to win by three goals.”

The Philippines will visit Mongolia for the away leg on March 15 with a huge two-goal advantage.