Match Thursday (My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi)
7 p.m. (8 p.m. Manila time) – Vietnam vs Philippines
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines vows to play its heart out as it seeks a lifesaving victory against host Vietnam Thursday night in the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi.
The Filipinos occupy the rear in Group F with only one point on a draw against three losses, and they need to sweep their last two matches on the road beginning with the 7 p.m. assignment (8 p.m.) in the Vietnamese capital to have a chance at advancing to the third round.
The Pinoy booters trail unbeaten leader Iraq (12 points on 4-0-0 win-draw-loss), second-running Indonesia (seven points on 2-1-1) and the Vietnamese (three points on 1-0-3) with only two match days left in Round 2.
“Expect a very intense and exciting game,” said Philippine midfielder Christian Rontini.
“I know people think that Vietnam is strong and everything, but we will put in our work. We will give everything from the first minute until the final whistle. We don’t play for a draw or for a loss, we play only to win. That’s it.”
First order of business is to do another “Miracle in Hanoi” like the Azkals of old in 2010 and upset the Golden Star Warriors to revive its chances. Then the team must extract maximum points against Indonesia on Tuesday in Jakarta and hope the results would be enough to send them through as one of two qualifiers from the group.
Coach Tom Saintfiet has assembled a 28-man crew led by veterans Neil Etheridge and Patrick Reichelt and beefed by 10 new faces that trained in Dubai for this assignment.
“We are well prepared. We made changes, with some new players,” said Saintfiet. “Sure, Vietnam is the favorite, but we come here trying to get the three points. That’s the intention, even if we know it’ll be difficult.”
Vietnam enjoys a big edge against the Philippines head to head, winning 18 of 21 encounters, including a 2-0 verdict in the previous window of the Qualifiers in Manila in November.