Heads up for Dooley

In 1958, a ballad about the hanging of a Confederate soldier Tom Dooley went to No. 1 in the Billboard charts with the Kingston Trio singing the song that took the world by storm. Today, “Tom Dooley” is immortalized as one of the best American Songs of the Century as voted by the Recording Industry Association of America, National Endowment of the Arts and Scholastic, Inc. The haunting refrain of “hang down your head, Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry” is still a familiar tune with Baby Boomers.

The song had to do with Dooley hung for allegedly murdering Laura Foster after the Civil War in 1866. Dooley never admitted to the crime. He was known as an easy-going singer and banjo player. There was speculation he shielded somebody, rumored to be the love of his life Ann Foster, who was guilty of the killing and went to the gallows for her.

In Maldives, there’s a Thomas Dooley who isn’t about to hang his head and cry. He’s the American-German coaching the Azkals who are a win away from qualifying for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Australia. The Philippine football team battles Palestine in the finals of the AFC Challenge Cup in Male tomorrow night for the right to play in the Asian Cup.

Neither the Philippines nor Palestine has ever played in the Asian Cup which started in 1956 and is held every four years. In 15 previous Asian Cups, 32 countries have taken turns to play with Iran and South Korea booking the most tickets at 12 apiece. Australia joined the Asian Cup in 2007 and will host the next joust on Jan. 9-31. Japan is the defending champion, coming off a 1-0 win over Australia in the 2011 finals in Qatar.

The coming Asian Cup will be the last time 16 teams are participating. Starting in 2019, the tournament will expand to 24 teams. The Philippines-Palestine winner is the last to qualify for the competition. Already assured of tickets are Australia, Japan, South Korea, Democratic Republic of Korea, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq and China.

The Challenge Cup winner will join Japan, Jordan and Iraq in Group D. If the Philippines qualifies, the Azkals will make their Asian Cup debut against Japan on Jan. 12 in Newcastle then face Jordan on Jan. 16 in Melbourne and Iraq on Jan. 20 in Canberra. The top two finishers in each of the four groups advance to the knockout stage.

The road to the Challenge Cup began in March last year when the Philippines hosted the qualifiers in Group E. There were 19 teams in the five-group qualifications. Bracketed with the Azkals were Cambodia and Turkmenistan. Brunei should’ve been in the same group but withdrew at the last minute. The Philippines topped Group E with an 8-0 thrashing of Cambodia and a 1-0 victory over Turkmenistan. The winners of each group advanced to play in the Challenge Cup in Maldives with the top two second-place finishers overall, allowing Group E runner-up Turkmenistan to pull through. The group winners were Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Palestine and the Philippines plus Laos and Turkmenistan. Host Maldives was the eighth entry.

At Maldives, the Azkals battled Afghanistan to a scoreless draw then crushed Laos, 2-0, and Turkmenistan, 2-0, to face the host nation in the semifinals. Turkmenistan, a two-time Challenge Cup second placer and a former Asian Cup qualifier, beat the Azkals in the 2012 semifinals. The match against Maldives was one for the books. It went into extra time of 30 minutes and Chris Greatwich, 30, scored in the first half of extension to lift the Azkals to a pulsating 3-2 triumph. Substitute keeper Roland Muller, 26, had several spectacular saves, including a penalty, and was a big reason for the win. Aside from Greatwich, the Azkals scorers were Phil Younghusband and Jerry Lucena. Two teeners Daisuke Sato and Manny Aguinaldo, both 19, shone for the Philippines in a showing that augurs well for the future of the country’s football program.

Stephan Shrock, nursing a hamstring injury, checked in late in the match and did his part, particularly in drawing the defense as a constant threat and knocking off precious seconds down the stretch to preserve the Azkals lead with his deft ballhandling. Evident in the Azkals’ play was their teamwork, crisp passing and balanced alignment in offense and defense. They were aggressive in attacking the net and just as aggressive in protecting the backline. There was rhythm to their movements, they played fluidly and selflessly. It was clear they knew what they were doing on the pitch, that they had a gameplan to execute and went out to do it. That’s credit to Dooley who was born in Germany to a US Army father and a German mother. He succeeded Michael Weiss who had taken over from Simon McMenemy.

Dooley was recruited out of German leagues to play for the US soccer team and acquired US citizenship in 1992. He went to play 81 matches for the US squad, scoring seven goals, and played at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup. Dooley, now 52, was captain of the US team in 1998 and in 2010, was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame. Now living in California, Dooley appreciates what the Fil-foreigners go through to play for the Azkals, especially those who campaign overseas like Schrock, Neil Etheridge, Muller, Paul Mulders, Rob Gier and Lucena. That’s because Dooley himself was a dual citizen with the US squad.

At the 2012 Challenge Cup, the Azkals defeated Palestine, 4-3, to claim third place. A repeat win over Palestine tomorrow will catapult the Philippines to its first-ever appearance in the Asian Cup where the winner moves on to play at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017. Palestine made it to the finals by holding Maldives to a scoreless draw, blanking Kyrgyzstan, 1-0 and Myanmar, 2-0 and trouncing Afghanistan, 2-0, in the semfinals.