Philippines vs Yemen: Match Preview

The Azkals take on Yemen in Bacolod City, tomorrow night, September 5, in a clash at the top of Group F.

Both teams are in a healthy position coming into the game, the Philippines on six points following 4-1 and 4-3 wins against Nepal and Tajikistan, respectively. Yemen are also undefeated, having beaten Tajikistan 2-1 in Doha before a 0-0 draw away to Nepal in Kathmandu.

A Philippines win would still keep both sides in the top two qualification slots, barring a large Nepal win against Tajikistan. If Yemen win, they leapfrog the Philippines to the top spot in the group. A draw would maintain the top two.

It’s not exactly a must-win, for either team, but as Thomas Dooley stated, “The players will fight from the first to the last minute.”

Unavailable Players:

Thomas Dooley may have selection problems tomorrow, with many notable absences. Among the injured are Henan Jianye striker Javier Patiño, Global defender Amani Aguinaldo, both with knee injuries. The latter’s prospective replacement, JPV-Marikina centre-back Camelo Tacusalme, has a hamstring strain, and Kaya forward Kenshiro Daniels is also injured.

The surprising retirements of Ceres trio Jefferey Christaens, Stephan Schrock, and Roland Muller have limited Dooley’s choices even more, especially with a fourth Ceres player, Martin Steuble, out of favour.

An in-form Daisuke Sato is unavailable too, suspended for accumulated yellow cards.

Team Selection:

Here’s my guess at the contents of Thomas Dooley’s team sheet tomorrow:

Neil Etheridge, after a flying start to the season with Championship team Cardiff City, is a probable starter in goal.

The defence is a bit harder to predict. The resurgent Wolfsberger AC fullback Stephan Palla is the most obvious choice to fill Sato’s vacated place. At right back, Dooley can choose from Junior Munoz, Carli De Murga, or Davao Aguila’s Simone Rota, with the Munoz the most likely.

The two centre-backs slots are even more interesting, since the reliable Amani Aguinaldo is injured. Dooley has experimented with both Ceres’ Luke Woodland and Global’s Dennis Villanueva in the heart of the defence in previous friendlies. If not selected on the right, both De Murga and Rota are additional options, as is the yet-untested Ceres defender Joshua Grommen. However, the defence seems makeshift without Aguinaldo.

In the midfield, Manny Ott has emerged as one of the first names on the team sheet, and tomorrow will probably be no exception. Kevin Ingreso is also likely to start along side. The other midfield berth could go to either Paul Mulders of Global or James Younghusband, unless Dooley switches systems.

The wide attacking areas are highly competitive, Familiar faces like Iain Ramsay, Misagh Bahadoran, Hikaru Minegishi,  and a returned Patrick Reichelt will be vying for places with new boys such as Dylan De Bruycker, Tyler Matas, and Hansa Rostock’s Harry Foll, a Filipino-German winger with pace and height, currently playing in the German third division.

Phil Younghusband, the captain, completes the lineup at centre-forward.

Record:

The Philippines and Yemen have played each other twice before. The Azkals won 2-0 in Doha in the second game of World Cup Qualifying in June 2015, when Misagh Bahadoran and Iain Ramsay scored to momentarily take the Philippines to the top of the group. Yemen got back in the reverse fixture when a Ahmed Al-Sarori winner at Rizal Memorial punctured our World Cup hopes.

Conclusion:

Yemen are tough to beat. They have a solid defence marshalled by keeper Mohammed Ayash, and an attack led by Ayman Al-Hagri and Yasser Basuhai. They will punish us if we make any mistakes.

The Azkals will finally get the loud, raucous atmosphere they deserve, courtesy of the dedicated fans in Bacolod.

A win at Panaad will bring us a step closer to the Asian stage. We can do this.

 

 

Philippines vs. Yemen: Match Preview

“It’s a must-win game,” said Coach Thomas Dooley.

And no doubt about it, the Yemen game is one. A win would keep our (very slim) qualification hope alive, depending on the results of North Korea and Uzbekistan, but dropping points will almost certainly mean elimination.

The Philippines takes on Yemen on Thursday, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, on paper an easy clash for the Azkals.

Yemen have no points from five games, have scored no goals, and have a goal difference of -11, but went to Pyongyang, a highly intimidating environment, where group favourites Uzbekistan lost to DPR Korea, and battled to lose only 1-0, while also going to Uzbekistan’s home in Tashkent and also only losing 1-0.

Yemen are a very tough team to break down, something that the Azkals experienced when we played them Doha last June 16. They held the Philippines off in the first half, had a few chances throughout the game, but lost because of goals from Misagh Bahadoran and Iain Ramsay.

Simone Rota and Rob Gier, according to Bob Guerrero, are training with the team, but Thomas Dooley thinks that both still have  to recover a bit more before being fully match-fit, while another defender, Luke Woodland, was not on PFF’s 23-man call-up list for this game, so the Azkals’ have only four defenders fully fit for the match: Daisuke Sato, Amani Aguinaldo, Stephan Palla, and Juani Guirado. Gier, Rota, and Jerry Lucena can still step in at the back in a pinch, but this lack of defenders might be a bit of a worry.

Strangely, Phil Younghusband is on the PFF’s 23-man list, even though he picked up his second yellow card of the campaign in the 0-2 loss against Bahrain in Riffa and therefore suspended from playing this match. The Philippines will have trouble replacing Younghusband’s leadership and hard work, but will get a boost in the returning Henan Jianye striker Javier Patino, who was injured for the games against North Korea and Bahrain.

Predicted formation:

Walsall keeper Neil Etheridge starts in goal, with Sato, Aguinaldo, and Palla in front of him.

With Gier and Younghusband out, Jerry Lucena takes the captain’s armband*, partnered with Kevin Ingreso, while Manny Ott and the ever-dangerous Stephan Schrock should drift infield, with the fullbacks, Iain Ramsay, and Misagh Bahadoran providing the width.

Javier Patino forges into the box as our main scoring threat.

Usually, Manny Ott was partnered with Phil Younghusband at attacking midfield, but with the latter suspended, the former should instead be partnered with Stephan Schrock, who takes Younghusband’s old attacking midfield role.

The Azkals must win against Yemen, who are good at being resolute in defence.

Our inability to have a Plan B against Bahrain and Uzbekistan cost us those matches, a sad truth about our football. The Azkals should be able to form a way to play if our fast passing game does not work.

Our passing game was a bit slow against Bahrain, probably due to the heat and fatigue, and must be upped if we want a result against Yemen. The Azkals’s finishing must also be improved, as we fluffed several good chances against Bahrain, which cost us the match.

And, as I have been suggesting for the last few articles, the Azkals should learn how to score from range. Our inability to score from range has cost us points.

The Philippines has to win this match. Underdogs they may be, Yemen is a tough proposition. We shouldn’t let them think they have a chance in this game.

*According to Cedelf Tupas, Stephan Schrock was appointed captain of this match by Dooley, instead of the automatic 3rd captain Jerry Lucena.