Azkals chase historic Final vs Thais

BANGKOK – Four years since breaking into the international scene with an unlikely semifinal appearance in Southeast Asia’s showpiece competition, the Philippine Azkals seek to write another historic moment on hostile ground tonight.

The Azkals, who rose to prominence with the “Miracle in Hanoi” in 2010 against the then titlist and host Vietnam, eye a Bangkok version of that star-making feat by booking a milestone finals seat in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 at the expense of tournament favorite and host Thailand.

But it will take a “perfect game” no less in tonight’s second leg against a Thai team that’s seen blood after a 0-0 draw in the opener in Manila, with an intimidating 50,000 Thai supporters jeering, to pull this king-size upset through.

“We know we’re the underdogs, we know we have to play a perfect game against Thailand to get a good result and get to the next round and that’s what we’ll try to do,” said coach Thomas Dooley on the eve of the 7 p.m. away game (8 p.m. in Manila).

By denying the War Elephants of an “away goal” over at Rizal Memorial last Saturday, the Azkals need only a scoring draw to prevail in the two-leg series and make it to the championship round for the first time ever. The three-time champion Thais have to beat the Pinoy booters tonight to advance.

“It’s an open game. I think both teams are wary of what could happen. But of course, I feel that somehow players in the first leg had shown a glimpse of how we could play against them and I think we don’t need to deviate too much from that formula,” said team manager Dan Palami.

“We just need to be more clinical in finishing, to be less tentative in the first minutes because that’s where we’re most vulnerable. If we play the kind of game that we played in Manila, I think we stand a good chance of having that upset against the favored Thailand team,” he added.

The Azkals could put pressure on the War Elephants if they could score first. The “away goal” will be a factor if the two-match series ends with a tied score.

“There were easy mistakes at the back in the game in Manila and if we could eliminate those and up front we’ll be a little inch better on passing, then we have a chance to score goals against them, too and make it difficult for them,” said Dooley.

“They have to be scared if we score a goal so this is our chance and that could push them a little bit more concerned of ‘what if they score goal?’ That’s a kind of an advantage for us,” he added.

Phl XI will have two less worries on defense as striker Adisak Kraisom is serving suspension while Kirati Keawsombut is nursing a hamstring injury.