MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals have found themselves in a tight fix in the 2016 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup after their bland start but the semis-seeking hosts believe everything’s still salvageable.
“The road has gotten tougher but it’s still doable so we just have to do what we have to do,” said Azkals team manager Dan Palami.
Forced to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Singapore in Saturday night’s opener at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, the Pinoy booters now need to beat Indonesia tomorrow and probably holder Thailand, too, on Friday to book a return trip to the Last Four.
Palami is optimistic the Filipinos’ never-say-die spirit and resilience will come into play once more.
“This is not the first time they’ve had a truly bad first game (in a tournament). So we have to prepare and continue to pursue our goals,” said Palami.
The Azkals didn’t have to look far to see how a bad opening game can be washed away by a stronger finish. In the 2012 Suzuki Cup in Bangkok, the Filipinos dropped their opening assignment to the host Thais, 1-2, but bounced back with victories over Vietnam (1-0) and Myanmar (2-0) to secure a semis seat.
Coach Thomas Dooley’s wards should first get over the frustration over the bungled opportunity to get the full points against the Lions, who thwarted them even more by parking the bus and doing alleged time-wasting tactics.
“We’re obviously disappointed. When they go down to 10 men, you have to capitalize (but we weren’t able to),” said skipper Phil Younghusband. “It feels more like a two-point loss than a one-point draw.”
Palami blamed the result on the side’s striking shortcoming.
“We had three good (scoring) chances and we didn’t convert,” said Palami, referring to Hikaru “Pika” Minegishi’s on-goal attempts that either missed the target or got saved by the Singapore keeper.
“I think we need to move the ball a little quicker; there was a time when our midfielders were a bit tentative,” he noted.