The Philippine Azkals kick off their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign tomorrow night, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
For perhaps the first time, the Azkals are the favourites to top their group and qualify, but we have six tough matches in front of us, starting with Koji Gyotoku’s side tomorrow.
Though the side nicknamed The Ghorkalis have not had the best recent record against the Philippines, (losing 4-0, 3-0, and 3-0 in our last three matches,) they are the current AFC Solidarity Cup holders, beating Macau in the final, and are surely determined to beat us when it matters.
The Azkals lined up with an experimental 4-4-2 system against Malaysia in last Wednesday’s friendly, a lineup successfully used in Europe by several teams in the past couple of seasons, most famously by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City.
Combined with Dooley’s preference to keeping possession and dominating the opponent, however, the tactic was somewhat ineffective. Though we had the lion’s share of possession, Malaysia was successful in keeping a compact defence. Several promising plays broke down in the final third, and particularly in the second half, chances started to dry up.
The front two of Phil Younghusband and Javier Patiño were isolated at points, forcing them to drift wide to receive the ball. We lacked a central playmaker, the man in the hole, who could join the midfielders and the forwards.
If I were to pick our lineup tomorrow, it would look like this:
One major change would be to elevate Daisuke Sato, who has significantly improved since moving to Romanian Liga 1 side Politehnica Iași, to the left wing, in the absence of Misagh Bahadoran. Sato played superbly against Malaysia, and his talent might be better suited in a more attacking role, especially when we have an experienced left-back in Jeffery Christiaens.
The rest of the defence would stay the same. Dennis Villanueva self-assuredly held the fort against Malaysia, while Amani Aguinaldo, as always, proved why Thomas Dooley took a punt on him almost three years ago. Junior Muñoz was a surprise start, with a resurgent Carlie De Murga on the team, but he also did well until being substituted thirteen minutes before the end.
Manny Ott and Kevin Ingreso grabbed control of the centre of the park against Malaysia, nipping attacks in the bud and starting new ones. If they establish a similar control over the game tomorrow, we will have a very good chance indeed.
Another change from last Wednesday would be to drop Phil Younghusband deeper. Not in a centre or defensive midfield role, which stifled his attacking talent and exasperated the fans, but right behind the centre-forward, in the hole. From there he can dominate the final third with his range and quality of passing, but also with his goalscoring prowess.
Javier Patiño will be tasked with being the goal-getter, while Iain Ramsay to his right supplies the ammunition with his pace and trickery.
Dooley would also have options on the bench, with the likes of James Younghusband, OJ Porteria, Mike Ott, Hikaru Minegishi, and Fitch Arboleda in reserve in case of need.
On the other side of the pitch, Nepal may be underdogs, but they will not be pushovers. They have their own danger men such as Bimal Magar and Anil Gurung, who can punish us if we give a chance, and midfielder Jagajeet Shrestha has a bone to pick with Daisuke Sato, who got him sent off in the November 2014 friendly after exaggerating the effects of Shrestha’s headbutt.
We cannot let our foot off the gas tomorrow night. Tomorrow is a must-win.
Philippines vs Nepal kicks off at 8PM (UTC+8), at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila. Tickets are from 100 pesos and are available at SM ticket outlets. The match will not be shown on TV, but the Philippine Football Federation has set up a live stream, here: https://mycujoo.tv/ch/340?id=4994
The Flying Winger 