THE men’s national football team didn’t get the results they wanted in their opening match on Saturday night in the 2016 Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup group stage.
First, the Azkals were force to a scoreless draw by Singapore despite several scoring chances that went for naught.
Second, the crowd didn’t come in droves, as what the Azkals and Philippine Football Federation wanted. The 20,000-seat Philippine Sports Stadium was only a fifth filled, with only 4,339 fans journeying to Bocaue, Bulacan.
What made the result excruciating for the Azkals was the fact that they faced a Singaporean side that was down to 10 men in the first half.
“Obviously, it’s a little bit disappointing playing against 10 men. We didn’t score a whole lot,” the Azkals’ American Coach, Thomas Dooley, said. “It’s obvious that they tried to park the bus, but it’s part of the game and I don’t like it. We have to take great opportunities to score but we didn’t finish. That’s definitely something we have to look at.”
The first half was literally quiet until the Lions went down to 10 men after defender Hafiz Abu Sujad was slapped a red card in the 35th minute after a bad challenge against Azkals skipper Phil Younghusband.
The Azkals played more aggressive in the second half and had more possessions, with Suzuki Cup first-timers Stephan Schrock, Mike Ott and Hikaru Minegishi taking charge.
Minegishi provided the closest chance for a goal with an open header at stoppage time, but Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny was quick to react.
“We want to score goals and have great chances. We didn’t create a lot of chances but we had a couple and, obviously, if you want to win the game, you have to score goals,” Dooley said.
With the draw, the Azkals need to win their last two matches to advance to the semifinals.
Up next for the Azkals on Tuesday also at 8 p.m. is gritty Indonesia, which played tough against defending champion Thailand before yielding, 2-4, also on Saturday.
Thailand, which battles Singapore on Tuesday and the Philippines on Friday, towed Group A from the three points it got on Saturday. The Azkals and Lions each has one point, while the Indonesians reeled to the bottom of the group.
Down 0-2 after the first half, the Indonesians gave the Thais a scare by leveling the count behind conversions by Boas Salossa (53rd minute) and Lerby Eliandry Baru (56th minute).
But Teerasil Dangda, who scored Thailand’s first two goals, completed a hat trick to douse the Indonesian rally.