Suzuki Cup opener: Azkals open quest vs Thais

Matches today (Rajamangala Stadium)

5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. Manila time) – Vietnam vs Myanmar 

8:20 p.m. (9:20 p.m. Manila time) – Thailand vs Philippines

BANGKOK – The Azkals are back – and on the loose again – over the turf where they made a courageous stand two years ago that lit the fuse of football revival back home.

It was the same AFF Suzuki Cup where a curious combine of Fil-foreign players and homegrown aces reached an improbable semifinal finish, in the process triggering a new wave of interest in the sport that gave birth to “Azkal-mania.”

The Azkals take on powerhouse and host Thailand, no less, in the Suzuki Cup 2012 group stages before an expected hostile crowd at 8:20 tonight (9:20 p.m. in Manila) at the cavernous Rajamangala Stadium, the first of three tough tests in their mission to repeat their breakthrough semifinal showing in Southeast Asia’s prime tourney.

“We’ve been thinking about this for several months already, we’ve been looking forward to really fielding a very strong team,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.

The Azkals finalized their 22-man roster for what’s considered the “Group of Death” in the company of Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. 

Ed Sacapaño and Ref Cuaresma were named in the goalkeeping post, along with Fil-German Roland Muller, who will only be available by the time of the finals, should Phl reaches that far. Ray Jonsson, Rob Gier, Juani Guirado, Dennis Cagara, Carlie de Murga, Jason Sabio, and Jeff Christiaens fill up the backline posts while James Younghusband, Jerry Lucena, Paul Mulders, Chieffy Caligdong, Demit Omphroy, Jason de Jong, Angel Guirado, Patrick Reichelt, Marwin Angeles and Chris Greatwich take midfield. Phil Younghusband and Denis Wolf will carry the offensive load.

“Since the start of year, we’ve been gearing for the Suzuki Cup and now we’re here, we’re excited, we can’t wait to play our first game against Thailand and see how we’ll fare against our neighbors who, I’m sure have prepared  as well. I hope we will be formidable against them and pull off some surprises,” said Palami.

Standing in their way in the all-important opening game are the Thais, winners in 1996, 2000, 2002, plus a 12th man numbering tens of thousand hostile in the 80,000-seater stadium.

“This game will determine the mood and where we stand, but again, we’ll take it one game at a time, and one plan at a time for every opponent and we’ll see,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss. 

The Thais are expected to be spearheaded by in-form Teerasil Dangda, who finished the last Thai league season as joint top-scorer with 24 goals, and fellow Muang Thong United star Datsakorn Thonglao.

“They (Thailand) are going to be a strong team. They got two main guys, number 7 (Thonglao) and 10 (Teerasil). They (Thailand) are your typical kind of good Southeast Asian team,” said Gier, who produced a scouting report on the Thais. 

Phl have lost all six meetings against Thailand since 1996 prior to the game but Thailand’s German coach Winfried Schafer doesn’t care much about history.

“It’s past, it’s not important to me. But I sure hope (to keep that streak),” he said.

Schafer personally scouted the Azkals when they beat Singapore, 1-0, in Cebu last week.