Philippines vs Tajikistan: Match Preview

Come kick-off at 7:30pm tomorrow night, March 27, few things will be certain. The result will still be unknown. None of the teams in Group F are guaranteed progression to the Asian Cup. There are still three competitors for the two qualification slots, with several different permutations.

The Philippines does know one thing, though: Our fate is still under our control. We top the group with 9 points. Yemen and Tajikistan are tied on seven points, in second and third respectively, since Yemen has a superior head-to-head record over the latter.

A win or a draw takes the Azkals to the Asian Cup for the first time. However, our place in the United Arab Emirates next year is by no means guaranteed. Tajikistan are fighting to win in Manila, which would be the only way they would qualify, while Yemen play a mathematically-disqualified Nepal in Doha forty-five minutes after our game kicks off, where a win would bring them to the UAE.

A possibility still exists that the Philippines would still miss out. If Tajikistan and Yemen both win tomorrow, then we would drop down to third in the group, despite being top at the start of the day.

So it all comes down to matchday six, the final round of games.

Team Selection:

The Philippines have a team approaching full strength for tomorrow. Amani Aguinaldo, who has been stricken with a long-term injury for several months, is the only high-profile absence.

Cardiff City keeper Neil Etheridge, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe fullback Daisuke Sato, and former Henan Jianye striker Javier Patiño arrive to bolster the team who defeated Fiji in a friendly last week, adding to the likes of Phil Younghusband, Mike and Manny Ott, and Misagh Bahadoran.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Philippines will probably line up in Thomas Dooley’s preferred 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 formation. Javier Patiño will start upfront, to provide the offensive focal point that the team has been needing since his injury. Captain Phil Younghusband might either be dropped deeper or deployed beside Patiño for a front two, but that might isolate the midfield from the attack, and Phil’s range of passing and vision suit him playing in a slightly deeper role, just behind the striker, where he can both supply the frontline and score goals himself.

In the latter position, Younghusband would spearhead a dangerous-looking midfield trio that incorporates the Ceres-Bacolod pairing of Manny Ott and Kevin Ingreso.

Manny Ott provides a blend of aggression, energy, and creativity. His box-to-box runs can power the team forward, freeing space and creating chances for the frontline.  Ingreso plays deeper, as the shield for the defence, recycling possession. His shooting, as demonstrated by his well-taken half-volley against Fiji, is also a threat.

If Dooley does play a front three, Patiño will be flanked by two wingers. Dooley has several options in this regard, with Misagh Bahadoran, Iain Ramsay, Hikaru Minegishi, and Mike Ott competing for the two places out wide. Any two from these four are likely to play, but Bahadoran’s experience and Mike Ott’s good form for Ceres should get them chosen ahead of the other two.

The defence is also a key area. Neil Etheridge is an almost-certain starter in goal, providing the solidity that has been found slightly lacking in our other keepers. Central defence is more of a question, with Ceres’ Sean Kane involved in the equation with Dennis Villanueva, Carli De Murga, and Simone Rota.

De Murga has been the rock in the heart of Ceres’ defence so far this season, and with his experience, should be picked.

Villanueva, who can also play as a midfielder, adds the ability to start play from the back, something Dooley’s possession-based game would appreciate, which could be a factor if he is chosen to play in front of the more experienced Rota, though Sean Kane could challenge Villanueva in this respect, as another converted midfielder.

The opposition:

Tajikistan are also determined to win. Anything less than three points will end their bid to go to the Asian Cup.

Coach Khakim Fuzaylov has stated that “It’s a very important match for us”, while defender Iskandar Dzhalilov has declared that, “A win over the Philippines would go down in Tajik history.”

Tajikistan have the weapons to hurt us. Though we beat them 4-3 in Dushanbe in last June’s reverse fixture, they gave us some real scares, almost coming back to draw from 3-0 down until Daisuke Sato’s 79th minute thunderbolt settled matters, despite a late goal from Manuchekr Dzahalilov.

Parvizdzhon Umarbayev of Lokomotiv Plovdiv provides creativity, Istiklol’s Dilshod Vasiev gives them a potent attacker, while star midfielder Nuriddin Davronov could feature, having been injured for in our match against each other last June.

 

 

Conclusion:

Four years ago, the Azkals reached the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup final. A win there would take them to the Asian Cup and allow them to lift the country’s first major international trophy in more than a century.

We lost that final 1-0 to Palestine, thanks to Ashraf Nu’man’s stunning free kick.

Tomorrow, we have the opportunity to banish the memory of that loss. A chance to take us farther than we have ever gone.

When Phil Younghusband leads the team out at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, he will know that our fate is in our hands, but not only that. He will also know that he and his teammates have the chance to make history.

 

Tajikistan vs Philippines: Match Preview

The second match of the Philippines’ 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign kicks off tomorrow in Dushanbe.

Despite a 4-1 win over Nepal in their first qualifier, back in March, the visitors surely have a deep dent in their confidence, due to the 8-1 thrashing the Azkals received in Guangzhou in last week’s friendly against China.

Tajikistan, on the other hand, opted not to play any friendlies, instead focusing on their ten-day internal training camp. “We didn’t play any friendly game in this period,” stated Coach Khakim Fuzaylov. “Our opponent played a friendly match, but we organised a game inside of our team.”

Fuzaylov wants to bounce back from slipping up in their first qualifier, a 2-1 loss to Yemen away in Doha. “This match is a six pointer. We will play at home and have no right to make a mistake in front of our own fans.”

“Unfortunately, we began our campaign with a defeat in the away game. We controlled that match, but could not gain a positive result, but we took important lessons from that match.”

Tajikistan will be without their captain, Istikol midfielder Nuriddin Davronov, while goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, fullback Jeffrey Christaens, midfielder James Younghusband, and winger Hikaru Minegishi are unavailable for the visitors.

The Philippines lined up in this a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation:

 

A relatively solid-looking back line and midfield shield was exposed multiple times by China’s ruthless attack. Matters were compounded when James Younghusband was forced off by an ankle injury on twenty minutes and Daisuke Sato asked to be substituted on thirty-two.

Patrick Deyto was nervy, Amani Aguinaldo was uncharacteristically uncertain, and his centerback partner Luke Woodland was a bit of a liability.

The frontline played slightly better, pulling back a goal ten minutes before the break to make it 2-1, as the Philippines sought to get back into the game, but they were a no-show in the second half.

The team has to improve drastically if they want to come away from Dushanbe with a result.

 

This is how the Philippines could possibly line-up tomorrow, though due to the unpredictability of Thomas Dooley’s tactics, it could well be wrong.

Deyto probably plays in goal, though if his confidence is still shot, Kaya’s Nick O’Donnell could step in.

Unfortunately, there are no other real centerbacks in the squad,  so Woodland and Aguinaldo will have to retain their roles, unless Dooley changes systems.

Ott and Ingreso will probably partner in midfield, unless Phil Younghusband is brought deeper as he did play last year.

The changes we have upfront could be the game-changer. Misagh Bahadoran, a natural winger, was drafted into striker, but he will probably be pushed back out wide with a returning Javier Patino back from a slight knock. On the left, Dooley has options. Ceres’ Iain Ramsay could start there. Mike Ott can also play on the wing.

Stallion’s experienced Reuben “Balot” Doctora could make an impact from the bench, or his club teammate Fitch Arboleda.

The Philippines has played against Tajikistan, in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup group stages, winning 2-1, with Phil Younghusband and Angel Guirado cancelling out Alexei Negmatov’s opener.

Five years on, however, Tajikistan are a much-changed team. They are confident of a win at home, and the Philippines need to be on the top of their game to dispel the ghosts of the defeat in Guangzhou and get a result.

Philippines vs. Nepal: Match Preview

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

Azkals vs Bahrain post-match analysis and Yemen match preview

Sorry for the late post. I had a busy weekend. So, I’m also adding the match preview of the Yemen game.

The Azkals have beaten the Middle Eastern men last Thursday, a match that few foreign pundits gave us little chance in.

I was there personally at the match, and I’m still hoarse. I’ve never yelled so loud in my life.

Azkals 2-1 Bahrain: Analysis:

The Azkals played a formation like this as their starting XI:

It was completely different from the formation I predicted pre-match (see previous article).

The formation seems a bit foolhardy on paper, as only Gier was a natural centerback in this formation, but it did hold up excellently against Bahrain.

When the Azkals were on the attack, the formation looked something like this:

Palla, as a sweeper, would move into midfield, while Gier pushed into centerback.

Sato would overlap on the left to give the Azkals space and numerical superiority, Phil Younghusband pulled into midfield alongside Schrock to help Lucena and Ott to retain possession, while Patino forged into the box as the striker.

Notice Phil Younghusband’s new role.

He is more like an attacking midfielder instead of his regular striker or withdrawn striker (“number 10”)  role.

When we were defending, we looked more like this:

A sort of 5-4-1 formation, with Lucena and Palla tracking back to centerback, Ott and Sato moving to wingback, Steuble and Ramsay pushing into the midfield to try and pressure Bahrain into giving back possession, and Schrock and Patino up there to exploit the counterattack, with Schrock roaming dangerously.

But the most shocking thing is: Phil Younghusband is playing defensive midfield.

Seems like Dooley is experimenting with PYH playing in Wayne Rooney’s position under Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United.

A player that does his share of defending and attacking, a position that Phil excelled at last Thursday.

Bahrain were unable to track his runs, as he marauded all over the pitch, sending dangerous balls to both flanks.

But the Azkals took a severe blow a half-hour into the game: our danger man, Stephan Schrock, took an injury.

Dooley replaced him with Misagh Bahadoran, who is a completely different type of player than Schrock.

But Dooley played Bahadoran in Schrock’s role, and “Lord” Misagh played so unlike himself just a year ago.

The old Misagh Bahadoran was a ball-hogger who couldn’t pass and couldn’t shoot.

Misagh 2.0 still had his old skills on the ball, but he played well, playing for the team.

And he made that dangerous run that PYH picked out.

Phil crossed, and Bahadoran lunged at the ball to score his first goal in four years with the Azkals.

Javier Patino was another player who made a difference.

The Henan Jianye striker showed what the Azkals had missed during the last year, with his runs that the playmakers liked to pick out.

He should’ve scored early on when he broke free, but his shot was saved by Jaffer, the Bahrain stopper.

Patino managed to score, though, finishing clinically from Manny Ott’s set-piece.

We had some worries though, after Palla came off with cramps.

In his place came Juani Guirado.

Bahrain piled some late pressure, and got a goal back, when Abdulwahab Al Malood shook off Juani Guirado quite easily, rounded Neil Etheridge, and =slotted home, but this proved to be nothing but a consolation, as we scored a historic win.

Azkals vs Yemen: Match Preview:

The Azkals take on Yemen tomorrow night.

Kickoff is live on ABS-CBN Sports+Action at 11:55 PM Philippine time, so whatever your commitments on Wednesday are, I hope you’ll watch this game anyway.

And if any Pinoys in Doha are reading this article, please come out and watch them at the Qatar Sports Club.

Down to business, then.

The Azkals lined up in a 3-5-2 against Bahrain (see above), but I think Dooley will have to tinker with his tactics again, after we lost Schrock, who will be out for at least two weeks.

I think we’ll line up like this:

With no Schrock, Steuble can be moved into the middle, meaning Bahadoran moves into Steuble’s old position on the right,

and Phil plays behind Patino, occasionally dropping deep to reinforce the midfield.

Yemen, though, will be hard to break down, though they are the lowest-ranked team in the group.

DPR Korea played them and only won 1-0.

They’ve nothing to lose, with a civil war being fought in their country.

We should NEVER underestimate them.

That’s how we revived as a football nation.

Good luck Philippines, and SUGOD AZKALS!

Match Report: Loyola Meralco Sparks 3-3 Kaya FC

Termed the UFL’s equivalent to the PBA’s Manila Clasico by TV5 commentator Jing Jamlang, the two rivals impressed in a battling thriller yesterday evening.

This is one of the most ill-tempered derbies in Philippine football, and last night was no exception, the referee dishing out eight yellow cards and one red card in this game.

Loyola were without coach Simon McMenemy and assistant Gil Talavera after both were sent off in the previous match versus Ceres, meaning manager Armand Del Rosario sat in the hot seat for the Sparks.

Kaya were also without a coach, with Adam Reekie resigning during the Holy Week break, with Chris Greatwich taking the reins.

The two teams started the game by trading chances, Phil Younghusband, Kenshiro Daniels and OJ Porteria all coming close.

Phil Younghusband opened the scoring on thirteen minutes, faking twice past his marker before blasting home past Nick O’Donnell, but Kaya equalised thirteen minutes later, as Louis Clark pounced on a Loyola error and slotted home past Tomas Trigo.

Loyola lost Adam Mitter through injury midway through the half, with Yves Ashime coming on for the Englishman.

But Loyola had the worst player possible sent off after Phil Younghusband was booked for complaining then sent off moments later for going straight into the back of Miguel Tanton in the thirty-first minute.

Two quick-fire goals then ensued, with Lee Joo Young scoring from James Younghusband’s ball a minute after PYH’s red card before OJ Porteria scored three minutes later to cap off a frenetic first period as Graham Caygill had a goal disallowed for offside late into the half.

The second half started just as fast, as Jovin Bedic had his goal struck off by the ref for a foul inside the area.

Bedic didn’t have to fret over that one too long, as Porteria found him from the cutback just nine minutes later, and he struck past Tomas Trigo to give Kaya the lead.

Louis Clark almost got his second, but the assistant’s flag was up for offside as he rounded the Loyola custodian.

Loyola kept trying, daring to attack despite being down to ten men, and levelled the scoring again, as Lee Joo Young swung in his free kick.

Anthony Putrus-Schnell was first to it, and he poked past Nick O’Donnell in the seventy-sixth minute to equalise again.

Kaya put in some pressure to try and get the three points, but Joshua Beloya’s chance with Trigo beaten was denied by Yves Ashime’s wonder tackle to save the Sparks.

Kaya tried some more, but Loyola held for the draw and ensured that the two worthy teams split the points.