Loyola
defeats Harimau Muda, 3-0, to advance to q’finals of Singapore Cup
by rick olivares
Singapore -- The Loyola Meralco Sparks
made its triumphant return to Singapore with an impressive 3-0 win over
Malaysian S.League side Harimau Muda B in the opening round of the 2013
Singapore Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium last Sunday.
The Sparks got goals from Phil Younghusband
scored a brace while Jang Joo Wong, playing atop their 4-2-3-1 formation, found
the back of the net for his first international goal in the win.
It was the first bit of good cheer the
Sparks got in the last few weeks as they have dropped out of the race for the
UFL title following some crushing losses and disappointing draws after leading
the league in the early part of the season.
“I am hoping that this is where we
turn the corner,” said team manager Carlo Rodriguez a day before the game. And
the beleaguered Sparks did just that to advance into the quarterfinals of the
Singapore Cup for the second consecutive year.
“When we came last year it was for the
experience. Now, we have the experience,” noted head coach Vince Santos.
Although the Sparks took control of
the match from the opening whistle, it was the Malaysians who had two early
chances to score but forward Maxsius Musa fired wide in the fifth minute while
a one-two combination pass between Yazid Zaini to Iskandar Hanapiah three
minutes later also went awry.
Phil Younghusband’s back heel pass in
the seventh minute to older brother James in the right wing saw Loyola in a
good position for their first chance but the latter’s cross sailed away.
In the 17th minute, Phil
Younghusband was felled inside the box by defender Ashmawi Yakin who was the
last line of defense after the Filipino broke through several defenders.
Referee Abdul Malik Bashir sent off the Malaysian leaving Harimau Muda with
only 10 men on the pitch. A minute later, Younghusband made good on his spot
kick to give Loyola the opening goal of the 2013 Singapore Cup.
Malaysian head coach Razip Ismail
lamented the sending off his player. “It’s too harsh to give a player a red
card. In our last game against Woodlands, almost the same situation but the
player never got a red card only a yellow card.”
Santos offered somewhat of a mild
counter, “The chance we created to concede a red card was with eleven men. It’s
the last man then there’s a chance for a red card. But if it happened anywhere
else in the field then I would have not expected a red card.”
Loyola dominated possession of the
match as they completed 83% of their passes (439-531 attempts). They also got
stellar wing play from Matthew Hartmann on the left and James Younghusband on
the right. But it was their ability to hold the ball and find holes in Harimau
Muda’s defense that had the Malaysians playing cautiously and opting to attack
on the counter.
In the 40th minute, a
brilliant nine-pass set saw Phil Younghusband find Jang Joo Won on a long ball
release. The Korean deftly maneuvered between two defenders before firing to
his left but well under the arms of the diving Harimau keeper Ilham Amirullah
for a 2-0 lead that gave the Filipino side some breathing room.
The Malaysian side, their Under-19
national team, played better in the second half, with a 4-4-1 formation. But
they got few opportunities to break through.
Decried Ismail, “We couldn’t break the
opponent back four, I don’t think maybe we get a clear try at the goal. We
never had one clear chance. You need to go inside the box. We lacked ideas
maybe because of less man.”
Harimau Muda retained better control
of the ball in the second half and that afforded them a few attacking
opportunities. In the 78th minute, Hanif Dhazir who had come in the
match as the Malaysian’s first substitute for forward Yazid Zaini, unloaded
from 25 yards out but it was wide left. One minute later, Musa sent another
long range shot well high over the crossbar leaving Loyola keeper Ref Cuaresma
unchallenged for the most part of the match.
With several hundred Filipinos at
Jalan Besar Stadium cheering on the Sparks, Loyola stepped up the pressure with
their substitutes all making an impact.
Angelo Marasigan, in for Matthew
Hartmann, had a brilliant turn, but fired straight at the keeper.
Attacking midfielder Jake Morallo who
performed well in last year’s Singapore Cup came in the 74th minute
for Jang and he had three scoring chances.
Seven minutes after his introduction
into the game, James Younghusband’s long forward ball found Morallo with space
to operate just outside the right side of the box. A defender blocked his
initial cross but Morallo recovered the ball drawing out Amirullah. With a
crowd in front of him, Morallo’s pass to a wide open Phil Younghusband, who had
run up in support as the third man, was exquisite. The long-time national
player could do no less than blast the ball into an empty net for a 3-nil lead
and the clincher.
Santos pronounced himself “satisfied”
with the win. “Morale was a bit down after one of our losses it’s good to have
our morale back. It helped they got a man down but before that we were showing
good movement. We created some chances and I think we deserved at least that
first goal when they went a man down. It was a little easier after that.”
The Sparks had a great practice in
Manila before leaving for Singapore and in their final one, the night before
the Harimau Muda match, saw the players moving with a lot of energy. “The cloud
we were under in lifted in the past few days,” noted Santos.
“I knew we were going to win,” chimed
in a joyous Alex Elnar who before boarding the team bus bound for Jalan Besar
Stadium related how when the team attended Holy Mass at the Church of Our Lady
of Lourdes, a few minutes walk from the team hotel in Bugis. “During the
Homily, the priest talked about the Holy Trinity and in our practices, we’ve
been working on our three-man runs.”
And after the 3-nil win? “Three goals
and a clean sheet? Yes!” roared Elnar.
Ismail on the other hand could only
shake his head. “This is our worst game. Our worst performance. (Defender)
Syawal Nordin injured his knee during warm-ups and we had to replace him.”
“This is not Harimau Muda team that
you’re used to seeing. Very difficult opponent (Loyola); an experienced team. I
think maybe we are tired after two hard games in the S.League (both wins –
3-nil over Tanjong Pagar United and 2-0 over Woodlands Wellington). We are also
did not know this opponent even though I understand there are a few national
players in this team.”
In perhaps the best compliment paid to
the UFL side, Ismail said, “We never played anyone with this quality.”
The Malaysian coach also named several
players who he thought played well for the Sparks: “I think number 23 (Mark
Hartmann), and the striker (Phil Younghusband) is not bad. The captain (James
Younghusband) also. They moved very well and they play good football. They are
a good team with experience.”
Starting
XIs:
Ref Cuaresma
PJ Fadrigalan Chad Gould Jeong Byeong Yeol Roxy Dorlas
Simon Greatwich Mark Hartmann
James Younghusband Phil Younghusband Matt Hartmann
Jang Joo Won
Ridzuan Abdunloh
Iskandar Hanapiah Yazid Zaini Maxsius Musa
Akhir Bahari Azzizan Nordin
S Vikneswaran Nashriq Yahya Osman Yusoff Ashmawi Yakin
Ilham Amirullah
Substitutes:
Loyola: Angelo Marasigan (67) for
Matthew Hartmann, Alex Elnar (69) for Jeong Byeong Yeol, and Jake Morallo (74)
for Jang Joo Won.
Harimau Muda: Hanif Dzahir (20) for
Yazid Zaini, Syafwan Syahlan (59) for Iskandar Hanapiah, and Nur Areff
Kamaruddin (64) for Azzizan Nordin.
Possession:
Loyola: completed 439 of 531 passes –
83%
Harimau Muda: completed 296 of 369
passes – 80%
Notes: The Jang brothers – midfielder Jang Jo Won and
forward Jang Joo Won – have another brother playing in the S. League. He is
Jang Jo Yoon who is playing with Woodlands Wellington FC. Jang Jo Won also once
played in the S. League.
Interview with Razip Ismail
Interview with Vince Santos
sir, we can't see the interview with jake morallo.
ReplyDeleteSorry! They are now published for viewing.
DeleteSir Rick,
ReplyDeleteAre you going to cover or write about the ongoing 2013 PFF Suzuki Cup U-23?