Confident Azkals take on Indonesia

Confident Azkals take on Indonesia

story and pic by rick olivares

JAKARTA, INDONESIA – The Philippine National Men’s Football Team waxed confident on the eve of their “home” semifinal match with Indonesia at the Gelano Bung Karno Stadium.

The Filipinos held their first practice at Bung Karno last Wednesday in front of dozens of media men from all over Southeast Asia. In the press conference earlier that morning, the attention the Philippines got from the media was a stark contrast from the chilly reception they received in Hanoi when no one bothered to ask Philippines head coach Simon McMenemy any questions. Since the nationals’ 1-1 draw with Singapore and 2-nil defeat of defending champion Vietnam, it has been quite the opposite as the team was in the center of a massive media frenzy in Vietnam and in the Philippines. “Amazing is all I can say to describe this,” said McMenemy who has yet to be defeat since taking over the reins of the national team from Scotsman Desmond Bulpin three months ago. “You know and hear about all this support even if you don’t see it physically and it’s just amazing. We have a fantastic opportunity to do something good about the sport not just in the Philippines but all over the world.”

During the pressconference for the match of Indonesia, McMenemy field three questions to every one asked of Merah Putih assistant Widodo Putro.

“Any point we can get from this game is huge,” summed up McMenemy in a discussion with assistant coaches Edwin Cabalida, Edzel Bracamonte, and Ronald Piñero a few hours before kickoff.

“As long as we don’t let them score early in the game we’ll be good.” Added team skipper Aly Borromeo who admitted to be excited about the match. “We just got to hold and keep the backline tight then counterattack. We need to get their mindset straight and avoid all those distractions going on. We’re here to do a job and we have to be positive.”

The Azkals, as the nationals are nicknamed, watched Indonesia’s three quarterfinals matches where they held court from December 1-9 while taking in the full nine points with three wins against zero losses. “The other teams made a lot of mistakes that’s why Indonesia got a lot of goals.” Noted striker Phil Younghusband who has scored 16 international goals for the Philippines since he began to suit up in 2006. “The other teams leave a lot of space and Indonesia are quick to capitalize on that.”

The Merah Putih scored 13 goals, a tournament best, while surrendering only two scores. The Philippines, playing in Group B action in Hanoi, Vietnam, took five points from two draws and a win. The Azkals scored three goals with two from midfielder Chris Greatwich with one from Younghusband.

The nationals talked about playing in front of the huge Bung Karno crowd that partially worries them. “If we can hold them back in the first 20 minutes and get chances of our own, then we take out their crowd which provides them with a lot of support and adrenaline,” said Bracamonte. “It is important not to be intimidated.”

“Bacolod is the biggest crowd I’ve experienced,” said Borromeo of when the national played in front of a huge crowd in Panaad during the 2007 Asean Football Cup qualifiers. “Now to play in front of 80,000-plus people? That’s huge.”

“Rarely do you get a chance to play in front of 80,000 people,” said Younghusband. “It’s something you can tell people about but at the same time you want to silence them.”

To hold up the Indonesian forays into Philippine territory, McMenemy will start Roel Gener in place of co-captain Chieffy Caligdong who isn’t fully 100% after suffering a minor knee injury against Singapore during the quarterfinals in Vietnam.

In the meantime, Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Monico Puentebella, who is in Jakarta to lend some support to the national team, said that in the event the Azkals advance to the finals that will be played on December 26 and 29, the Philippine will be given a chance to host it’s home game in this home-and-away format where the winner is decided to the aggregate goals. The former Congressman from Bacolod also disclosed that the Philippines will be given a share of the receipts from the “home” match with the amount to be paid to the Philippine Football Federation.

Interestingly, deposed PFF President Jose Mari Martinez is in Jakarta to watch the match and is booked in the same hotel as the national team and interim PFF President Mariano V. Araneta. Regarding remarks he made to the Philippine Star about disbanding the national squad, Martinez said that he was misquoted.