Analyzing the Pasargad-Stallion game

Pasargad frustrates Stallion; earns a draw

by rick olivares

February 4, 2012

University of Makati

The match between Stallion and Pasargad was a downer if you root for the former and a winner if you cheer for the latter.

The match after fulltime (and a quick five or was it four minutes of added time) ended in a scoreless draw and left Stallion frustrated with the outcome and the officiating. It was the Iloilo-based club’s first match in four outings where they were not able to collect the three points available.

Stallion ran their 4-4-2 in their new Juventus-inspired black and white kits (with gold numbers that was difficult to look at from the stands – seriously there was no color contrast). Pasargad played a 4-3-3 on offense and 4-4-2 on defense.

For the first five to ten minutes, Pasargad was taking it to the current leaders of the UFL. When it became apparent that they could not mount proper attacks as they could not string up three successful passes they sagged back on defense and disrupted the free flowing game of Stallion. When the occasion was there for a counterattack, then they committed players on offense.

In the 45^th minute, they had an opportunity to go up when Jay Torres found Ric Padilla on the cross from the left wing. But Padilla’s header was a little weak and it went straight to Stallion keeper Wilson Muñoz who hardly broke a sweat this evening.

Stallion had their chances such as the 39^th minute goal line miss by Vince Braga off a cross by Ruben Doctora. The ball hit him just above the ankle and the ball sailed high when an inch lower and that would have been a goal.

Jovanie Simpron had an opportunity as did Bervic Italia but Abdollah Golkhah turned in a superb performance at goal. The latter was spectacular that drew applause from the crowd. The Iranian goalkeeper rushed out to stop Ruben Doctora but was unable to corral the ball. The leather went out to Italia who had linked up to join the assault. His shot from about a foot outside the box should have found the back of the net but Golkhah who was far out stretched out to grab the ball.

It is a shame that the team has not surrounded Golkhah with good players who can mount a proper attack. Even during the cup, he was easily their best player. The addition of Dieter Vangrunderbeek from Manhur sure helps but they have no midfield to speak of. There is no playmaker that can properly feed their forwards who tirelessly chase around the pitch. I understand they are bringing in a few players in the March transfer window but that is still a long ways off.

I don’t think Pasargad played dirty even if they were a little physical. I thought that they were just clumsy. And they paid for it when midfielder Miki Emaka was sent off in the 55^th minute after accumulating two yellow cards in the game. Even when their opponent was down to 10 men, Stallion was unable to get their game going.

Maybe it was the pitch (this was the fourth game played at UMak that day). Maybe it was the defensive nature of Pasargad. Maybe it was the white jersey (team manager JR Robles and sponsor Filbert Alquiros both think so – remember, “real men wear pink”). Maybe it was the officiating.

Ah, the officiating. It was bad for both sides.

There were a couple of instances where some of the Stallion players dove and that should have been a yellow card. Vangrunderbeek should have been given a yellow card for throwing a plastic cup on the pitch when he had to ditch it (he was drinking water) and go back on offense. There were some instances where a card should have been given to a Pasargad player for pushing off but it didn’t happen. Then the lead official gave a yellow card to Golkhah (for what he thought was delaying the game) when he was hurt.

The draw is crucial for Stallion as they face Green Archers United next Sunday without Doctora and Italia who will join the Azkals in Dubai. The plus side is this team is deep as they have not been able to give playing time to Simpron and Ansing Gustilo. And Louie Jay Sobrevega has not seen playing time as he backstops Muñoz.

The draw gives Stallion 10 points in four matches with a game at hand. Pasargad stays head above water as they only have two points in four matches. They are ahead of Navy that is sinking further in the standings with only a point in four outings (that draw against Army).

There should be an evaluation of the referees. The technical committee should review games with the refs. They should reward refs who officiate well and punish those who do poorly. And rough play should not be acceptable by any standard.


Stallion: Wilson Muñoz, Bervic Italia, Yeul Woo Nam, Antonio Albor Jr., Ruben Doctora Jr., Bo Bae Park, Byeong Jun Yoon, Jake Hugo, Yong Jae Pi, Joo Young Kim, and Vince Braga.


Pasargad: Miki Emaka, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Mohammad Gashemi, Abdollah Golkhah, Navid Khorsani, Mansour Madadi, Majid Mahdavi, Ricardo Padilla Jr., Jay Torres, Charles Ujam, and Dieter Vangrunderbeek.


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Additional reading:
Analyzing the Kaya-Loyola game