Kuwait drills Philippines in a 3-0 hole

This appears in the Monday July 25, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Kuwait drills Philippines in a 3-0 hole

by rick olivares

KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait put the Philippines in a huge hole following a hard-fought 3-nil win at the Mohammad Al Hamad Stadium last Saturday day night in the opening match of the home-and-away series of the second leg of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

Al Azraq, as the Kuwaiti team is known bucked the massive turnout of expatriate Filipinos who filled up 65% of the Al Hamad Stadium, by silencing the crowd early in the first half with a fantastic goal in the 17^th minute when a Fahad Al Elenezi low cross was headed in by a diving Yousef Naser.

While the goal somewhat silenced the crowd, it didn’t dampen the Azkals’ spirits who gave the Kuwaitis a taste of their own medicine.

One of the home side’s tactics is to swarm opponents in order to dispossess them of the ball. The Filipinos turned the table on the Kuwaitis to devastating effect as they repeatedly created chances on the counter-attack. Co-captain Chieffy Caligdong was magnificent in the middle third as was defender Ray Jonsson who repeatedly stymied playmaker Fahed Al Elenezi.

Angel Guirado, playing attacking midfielder behind targetman Phil Younghusband nearly got the Philippines on the board at the eighth minute when his header of a Jason Sabio throw in hit the crossbar.

Showing his predatory instincts, Younghusband collected a long ball from Caligdong in the 16^th minute that saw him beat the offside trap to go one-on-one with Kuwaiti goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi.

As the Filipino striker bore down on the goal with defenders Hussain Fadel and Musaed Neda giving chase, Younghusband’s shot was deflected out of bounds by Al Khaldi. In the ensuing counter-attack after a failed corner by the Azkals, Naser scored to give the home team a 1-nil lead.

Younghusband once more nearly found the back of the net when his rocket from some 35 yards was re-directed once more by Al Khaldi harmlessly over the crossbar.

Come the second half, the Kuwaitis began to funnel their attack to the left flank where Fahed Al Ebrahim and Waleed Ali worked their two-man game against Anton del Rosario to near perfection.

With central backs Rob Gier and Jason Sabio committed to protecting the middle because Bader Al-Mutwa, Kuwait’s star goalscorer, was lurking outside the box and waiting for a cross he could latch on to. That left Del Rosario vulnerable and forced Philippine midfielder James Younghusband to come down and plug the gap.

Kuwait’s Serbian head coach Goran Tufegdzic admitted after the match that they were largely unable to penetrate the right flank where Al Elenezi was due to the strong defense by Ray Jonsson. “Attacking on our left side gave us more shots and chances,” said the soft-spoken gaffer. “They (the Philippines) scouted us well in the first half. We had too many wide open spaces.”

The halftime adjustment proved to be magic for Kuwait as they tacked on two more goals in the final 45 minutes of play.

After Kuwaiti reserve midfielder Abdulaziz Mashan, who repeatedly gave the Filipinos trouble with his sublime passing and dribbling skills, launched a left corner shot, defender Mesad Nada poked the ball past Azkals’ keeper Neil Etheridge following a scrum just in front of the goal.

The second goal was even more deflating and it sent some of the capacity crowd of 25,000 heading for the exits.

In the 85^th minute, Kuwait midfielder Al Ebrahim collected a cross a couple of yards outside the box and found midfielder Jason de Jong and Sabio sagging instead of challenging him. Al Ebrahim launched a shot that zipped past Etheridge for a 3-nil Kuwait lead that is a huge advantage as Al Azraq heads to Manila for the Filipino’s home game.

The nationals head coach Michael Weiss refused to blame the humid weather of 40° Celsius in which the match was played. “We could not answer the position changes and ball flowing from one side to another,” lamented the German boss. “It is nice to see how they keep the ball rolling. We knew that we would meet a highly-advanced power in the gulf region and we are just not yet on that level.”

“They were as good as advertised,” said Del Rosario of the Kuwaitis. “When we return to Manila, we have to capitalize on the positives of our first half of play.”

Weiss also refused to pin a part of the loss to the suspension of Azkals’ captain and central back Aly Borromeo who instead was a helpless fixture in the stands. Midfielder Stephan Schrock, out also on two cautions, will return to action in Manila.

“We came here with four of our top players missing,” added Weiss who pointed out the absence of midfielders Paul Mulders and Jerry Lucena who were both unavailable due to club concerns and injury.

The crucial home match of the Azkals will be played on Thursday July 28 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium with the nationals needed to match or better the three goals scored by Kuwait at home. To surrender a goal would be devastating for the Philippines as a tie will see the away goals difference come to play. A loss would end the Azkals’ chances of advancing in the next round of Asian Qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup that will be held in Brazil.

The 3-nil loss of the Philippines was their biggest since a 4-2 beating at the hands of Hong Kong during the 2010 Long Teng Cup held in Taiwan in October of 2010.

Tufegdzic’s squad flew to Manila on board a Kuwait Airlines and arrived ahead of the Philippine team that took an Emirates flight via Dubai. The Azkals touched down in Manila at midnight.

“We have to make a stand in Manila,” said a disappointed Borromeo as the team  prepared to leave Kuwait. “It’s not impossible to win it back home but it is going to be difficult. At least we will have everybody back for the home game.”