Sluggish Kaya dispatches tough Socceroo XI

Nate Burkey celebrates his goal that put Kaya up 2-0 while an appreciative Lexton Moy and Adrian Semblat head over  to him.

Sluggish Kaya dispatches tough Socceroo XI

by rick olivares photo by tunying p.

November 20, 2011

University of Makati

After a sluggish start, it turned out that all Kaya needed was a halftime scolding by head coach Juan Cutillas and the insertion of a few key players to get the offense going in order to dispatch the pesky and wanting Team Socceroo.

Kaya started without Nate Burkey and Anton del Rosario who were benched for leaving for the United States to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight without permission. Midfielder Eddie Mallari was in the Sea Games competing with the futsal national team while defender Jason Sabio was back in the US.

Yet even so, Kaya had the manpower and the firepower to take down Team Socceroo. Almost all match long, they raided Socceroo’s midfield that was mostly unable to string up combinations. Yet the finishing around the box left much to be desired as Eric Dagroh, Masa Omura, Adrian Semblat, and Lexton Moy squandered numerous opportunities to get their side on the board. Socceroo while looking out of sorts on offense as they mostly preferred the long ball were resolute in their defending as they literally threw their bodies around to turn back Kaya’s attacks.

At the half, an angry Cutillas railed at his squad for “the worst football I’ve seen in my life.”

The former Atletico Madrid player who also was the longtime coach of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team felt that his team’s level of play matched Socceroo’s. “We are at a point where we cannot make mistakes. You keep waiting for them to make mistakes but it’s you who have been making them. Go for good finishes!”

With his team struggling on offense, Cutillas finally sent in del Rosario, Burkey, and defender Ruffy Llorente.

Burkey’s entrance attracted a lot of attention that it freed up del Rosario to direct the attack and find the spaces that suddenly opened up for his teammates. In one instance, del Rosario’s throw in from well within Kaya’s side of the field reached all the way to the final third for an incredible through ball that a teammate was unable to convert for a goal.

Omura, one of those berated by Cutillas, redeemed himself in the 50^th minute with a shot from the left side of the box that curved right in before the second post. Socceroo goalkeeper Alex Pain who had gamely battled Kaya’s forwards and turned back numerous shots had no chance as he helplessly watched the ball settle into the back of the net. Kaya 1. Socceroo nil.

In the 72^nd minute, Burkey’s strike from the edge of the box doubled Kaya’s lead.

Socceroo was not without their chances. Forward Fabio Ide had a shot turned back by Semblat and linemate Zaydan Timpani struck a pair of powerful free kicks that cleared the Kaya wall although goalkeeper Russel Pierson was up to the task.

With Burkey’s insurance goal, Cutillas had the luxury of fielding in his bench including erstwhile starting keeper Toffer Camcam who he slotted in at the forward position. The move seemed comical at times as Camcam was subsequently man-marked by Luciano Stranghetti causing former national coach Simon McMenemy who in the audience to quip, “He (Stranghetti) must have thought that Camcam was Italian with all that wavy hair.”

With the crowd calling for Camcam to score a goal, the national team’s backup keeper instead got whistled for a yellow card while trying to break free from the tight Socceroo defense that refused to surrender a third goal.

With the 2-nil victory, Kaya entered the quarterfinals stage where they would play Nomads who last weekend sent Pasargad packing from the tournament with a 1-nil off a superb goal by defender Randy Musters.

“It’s not the best win, but we’ll take it,” said Cutillas after the match. “Now the competition gets harder and harder.”