Kuwait here we come!

This appears in the Monday July 4, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Kuwait here we come!

by rick olivares with pic by brosi gonzales

MANILA -- It turned out that the Philippines Men’s Football National Team was right. After playing on a terribly maintained pitch at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka that wreaked havoc on their finely tuned passing game, the Azkals, playing on a well-manicured Rizal Memorial Football Stadium pitch, flashed deadly form and routed the Brave Reds 4-0 in front of a capacity crowd of 12,870.

The prize for the win was a historic ticket to the next round of the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers against Kuwait at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium on July 23^rd. The Philippines’ home match will be on July 28^th also at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The superb midfield of Chieffy Caligdong, Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, and James Younghusband was firing on all cylinders as they crisp passes and through balls to their hungry bevy of forwards.

But it was Caligdong who struck first, when he weaved through two defenders in the 19^th minute and struck the ball past a flailing Sri Lankan keeper Manjula Fernando and into the first post after which it ricocheted in.

In the 43^rd minute, Phil Younghusband took a pass from older brother James as he too, ditched two defenders before finding the back of the net for the Philippines’ second goal.

Fil-Spaniard Angel Guirado notched his first World Cup Qualifier goal (his third overall for the Azkals as he scored two against Bangladesh in the AFC Challenge Cup) in the 51^st minute when he received a perfect through ball from James Younghusband and beat the offside trap. The 6’3” forward from Malaga, Spain made the Brave Reds’ defense eat grass in his wake as he sidestepped Fernando before slotting it into an empty net for a huge 3-nil lead.

Phil Younghusband scored a brace with a penalty shot in the 56^th minute after Schrock was brought down inside the box by a Sri Lankan defender Chathura Wellala Hettige. Younghusband’s goal was his 16^th for the national side. It was a stunning 4-0 win, the Philippines biggest in recent memory. The decisive win put the Philippines’ record in World Cup Qualifying play at 1-2-1 (the Philippines played Laos in 2001 drawing them 1-1 at home before losing 3-nil in the away match).

In the first half alone, the Philippines had 12 shots on goal to the two of Sri Lanka. Come the second half, the Azkals poured it on. “What can you say,” said the Brave Reds’ Korean coach Jang Jung. “It was experience versus inexperience.”

With the Sri Lankans unable to mount any serious offense, they resorted to the high ball something the Philippines’ pair of central backs – Rob Gier and Aly Borromeo – expected.

“We knew what was coming,” said an elated Borromeo who may yet rue a second caution for a late tackle. The Azkals’ captain was whistled for a yellow card in the away match in Sri Lanka. It is uncertain as of press time whether the cautions will be carried over into the next round.

“We looked forward to coming home,” said the nationals’ head coach Hans Michael Weiss whose record with the Azkals is now at 3-2-1 since taking over from Simon McMenemy last February. “We’ve been away for a month and I am not a Filipino but it was good to come home and play in front of a home crowd.”

The nationals will leave for Bahrain by mid-July for training in Middle East conditions.