This appears in the Monday, December 8, 2014 edition of the Business Mirror.
That home match vs.
Thailand
by rick olivares
For the second consecutive Suzuki Cup home match, the
Philippine Men’s National Team came away without a win against its foe;
settling for a scoreless draw this time against Thailand. Two years ago, it was
another goalless affair on home soil against Singapore. However the lads from
the Lion State parlayed that into a 1-nil win in their return to their home
field of Jalan Besar; a win that propelled them to their fourth regional
championship.
A scoreless draw is still good because at least the
Filipinos did not concede. I really hate this away goals rule that gives a
visiting team plus-one advantage per goal. Why doesn’t FIFA come up with a
two-point goal if one scores from the midfield line and three-points if one
scores from his own backfield. A goal is a goal no plus whatever.
However, we can debate FIFA’s rules again later. The
Philippines missed an excellent opportunity to bury Thailand and put themselves
in an excellent position to advance to the finals of the biannual competition.
And to think Thailand was down to 10 men in the last 20 or so minutes of the
match when forward Adisak Kraisorn was meted with a straight red card for
striking Filipino defender Amani Aguinaldo.
The draw puts the Philippines at a 1-2-1 record for
competitive – not counting the friendlies -- home matches this 2014 (including
the Cebu match with Malaysia earlier in the calendar year).
In competitive away matches, the PMNT has only
defeated one home side in the Maldives in Male in the AFC Challenge Cup. We
lost to Vietnam in the group stages of the Suzuki Cup. Now, the Philippines has
to play the most important game in its history when it goes to the Rajamangala
Stadium for the second leg of this semifinals match.
There are however a couple of things that augur well
for the Filipinos.
The
Philippines took a point from Thailand.
Sure it ended in a scoreless draw but would you
believe that the Philippines took a point from Thailand for the first time in
over four decades? When it’s game time and not a friendly, the Philippines
showed they could hang with some of the region’s best. Now they have their
confidence up, hopefully, the Filipinos will play better in the do-or-die
second leg.
Thailand
will be two men down at the Rajamangala.
Thailand will be missing forwards Kraisorn and Kirati
Keawsombut to suspension and injury for their home match. That somewhat dulls
their attacking edge. However, they still have the creative Charyl Chappuis who
seems to find a way to get within striking distance for a shot or a pass.
They
rediscovered their attacking side.
Sorely missing against Vietnam that harried them
almost non-stop, the local boys took the fight to Thailand. The attack is so
much better and pleasing to the eye. There is no crisis in confidence especially
since the first leg is still technically a good result.
To balance things out, here’s what the PMNT needs to
work on:
Shoring up
that central midfield attack.
We have given opponents fits from the left and right
flank. The problem is the central midfield play where someone needs to slip
those through balls and attack from the middle. That used to be Stephan
Schrock’s specialty. But he’s not on this team. Chris Greatwich used to spray
those passes to teammates on the wings from that spot but he isn’t playing
much. Am not crazy about Phil Younghusband bringing up that ball from there
because he tends to lose the ball the longer he dribbles but the Philippines’
all-time leading scorer can be deadly in finding teammates. Maybe a little
spacing and line adjustments could help.
Decision
making in the final third.
Far too many missed chances for the Filipinos. The
Thais probably rue their selection that left out some fearsome attackers. But
what they can do is play solid defense. Their back four was pretty good as was
their keeper Kawin Thammasatchanan. Phil should have scored on that breakaway.
Martin Steuble should have been more resolute in firing away from deep right
instead of lofting an ambitious attempt at Kawin.
As good as the passing is, on a few occasions, some
players dribbled a little too much and right into trouble. Pass and go. Move
into space as what the coach has been preaching.
Plugging
that defensive hold from the right midfield.
In the first 15 or so minutes of the second half,
Thailand made five runs from the left side (our right side). On some occasions,
Aguinaldo and Rob Gier dealt with them, but Kiatisuk Senamuang’s boys were able
to fire away from inside the box.
That left was where the Thais launched a lot of their
raids. In the middle, Manny Ott, Phil and the others were able to turn them
back. On their right, Daisuke Sato was a menace to them. So it is imperative
that the hole on the Thailand’s left be slammed shut.
The match of Wednesday, December 10, will be the most
important match in the national team’s history. For sure, Thailand will not
make it easy and I expect them to be even more physical on that day. The
Philippines knows they cannot play like they did against Vietnam.
If the Philippines is going to take the next step in
its evolution, then Wednesday is the day.
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