Azkals dream of being Asia’s top dog

MANILA, Philippines — Now that they’re one with the big boys of Asia, the Philippine Azkals might as well dream big and set ambitious goals for themselves when they make their historic debut in next year’s AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

“I want to be the Iceland in the Asian Cup,” an ecstatic team manager Dan Palami said after the Pinoy booters hammered out a gutsy 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Tajikistan Tuesday night and qualified for Asia’s showpiece tournament for the first time ever.

Palami was referring to the Icelandic team which won football fans over with its starmaking performance in the 2016 UEFA Euro. After a qualification campaign that included upset over the Netherlands, surprise qualifier Iceland made a huge impact in its maiden stint in Europe’s most prestigious meet and went on to beat mighty England in the Round of 16.

The Azkals want to borrow a page from Iceland’s book when they to get their baptism of fire in the Asian Cup, which features 24 of the best teams in the continent led by four-time champion Japan, three-time winners Saudi Arabia and Iran, two-time ruler South Korea and defending champion Australia.

“We’re not going there just to participate; we’re going there to compete and we’re going there fully prepared. We want to make sure we make an impact in the Asian stage,” said Palami.

The Azkals hope this new milestone will re-ignite the Filipinos’ love affair with the beautiful game, similar to what happened when they burst into the scene and made an improbable semifinal appearance in the Asean Suzuki Cup eight years ago.

“Hopefully, it’s a catalyst for more growth in Philippine football,” said skipper Phil Younghusband, one of the three remaining stalwarts from the 2010 batch. “In 2010, we got a lot of private support; hopefully this moment can spur another resurgence of Phl football and get people to talk about Phl football again.”

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the Pinoy booters the last eight years. They made the Last 4 of the Suzuki Cup two more times but didn’t go beyond and worst, missed the semis in 2016 when they hosted the tournament and the crowd started to dwindle. 

“It’s up and down all the time,” admitted Younghusband. “But this outweighs all.”

Players and team staff didn’t hide their emotions when the referee blew the final whistle.

“We were just crying inside the dugout and I think that says it all,” said Palami. “We’ve been through a lot, especially for me. I’ve seen players come and go, coaches come and go, and we’ve not been always successful but to make it to the bigger stage after all those heartaches, masaya (it’s pure joy), and it’s a feeling that can’t be described.