No escaping Sacapaño: Goalie’s gutsy saves lift Azkals past S’poreans

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Eduard Sacapaño dished out what’s considered one of the finest goalkeeping jobs for the Phl football team as the Azkals roared to a stunning 1-0 victory over the Singapore Lions Thursday night, practically showing his readiness to step to the plate in the possible absence of fancied custodians Neil Etheridge and Roland Muller in next week’s AFF Suzuki Cup.

Tending the goal on the same day news about Bristol Rovers’ on-loan keeper Etheridge’s decision to supposedly skip the Asean tilt came out, Sacapaño took the offense-minded Lions head-on, making saves after saves to parry the visitors’ attacks and earn morale-boosting accolades for the effort.

With Rob Gier and Juani Guirado providing solid back support to their keeper, the Azkals managed to hold Singapore scoreless despite 19 attempts overall, of which 13 were on target, and went on to fire the game-winner via Marwin Angeles’ goal in the 54th minute to show that their 2-0 win over the Lions last September was no fluke.

“Nagpreparasyon ako at focus sa game kasi ito ang test ko, baka makalaro ako sa Suzuki Cup kaya ginawa ko na ang lahat (I focused and prepared so much for this game, which served as a test for my possible participation in the Suzuki Cup, so I gave it my all). I’m happy nakapag-perform ako nang maganda (Glad I performed quite well),” Sacapaño said.

Eyes were on the Armyman with a week left before the Suzuki Cup as both first choice Etheridge and second choice Muller are still doubtful for the Nov. 24-30 group stages in Bangkok. Etheridge, according to the Bristol Post report quoting Rovers boss Mark McGhee, has supposedly chosen club over national duties, although Phl team management has yet to be formally notified by the Fil-British or the club.  

Sacapaño played better than expected.

He spoiled the penalty kick of Shi Jiayi in stoppage time to maintain a scoreless draw at halftime, drawing high-fives from teammates and officials and chants of his name from the crowd as he made his way to the dugout.

He had at least six saves throughout the match, including a double save off a Singaporean free-kick and a rebound in the 73rd.

“Sacapaño’s performance was probably beyond the expectations of many people but not beyond mine,” said coach Michael Weiss. “I knew that he’s made a very good progress the last year so whether Neil or Roland will come or not, with Eduard we’re also in good hands.”

Lions’ mentor Radojko Avramović was among those surprised. 

“I told the players that the goalkeeper is not that experienced so let’s test him. But he’s done extremely well.”

Sacapaño said he couldn’t have done it without his teammates.

“Kumpyansa ako sa back four. Na-boost confidence ko na itaas din ang level (I got confidence in the back four who boosted my confidence and inspired me to bring my game to a higher level),” he said.

The Lions were actually in control in the first half before the Azkals cranked it up in the last 45 minutes, aided by the infusion of Angeles, who knocked in his first international goal,  and Phil and James Younghusband at the turn. 

“It was a very-hard fought victory. The first half was one of the least spectacular performances we’ve seen under my guidance. They were not aggressive enough, were too far away from opponent and just let the opponent play. We’re lucky we’re not punished,” said Weiss.

“But we made three (personnel) changes and that made a difference in the second half. We had a more aggressive approach, pushed it up a little and didn’t sit too much, waiting for the opponent to do something. This should be a good morale boost ahead of our first (Suzuki Cup) match on the 24th (against Thailand),” he added.

The friendly against Singapore capped an intensive preparations for the Azkals in their bid to at least repeat as semifinalist in the Asean bootfest. They fly to Bangkok on Tuesday and will have four sessions before their opening game against the hosts.