THE national men’s football team settled for a scoreless draw with Malaysia on Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, a result that exposed the Azkals’ weakness in finishing matches.
“This is football. We need to score goals to win games. So our focus on the next couple of days will be on finishing, finishing, finishing,” Dooley told the reporters shortly after the friendly which is part of the team’s buildup for the Asian Cup qualifiers.
The friendly was the Azkals’ first match of the season and the draw sent the Philippines reeling to a losing streak against the Malaysians that extends to 26 years.
But Dooley still minced encouraging words for his wards.
“I think the team still did a pretty good job,” the American coach said. “We would have loved to win after 26 years. We created chances, we had possessions most of the time, we ran a lot, we played nicely, but we just couldn’t finish.”
Substitute Fitch Arboleda had the chance to finally nail a first win against Malaysia but his attempt at stoppage time but went wide.
The Philippines will begin its campaign in the Group F of Asian Cup Qualifiers with a home match against Nepal on Tuesday.
Dooley stressed that the team needs to polish its finishing kick in the qualifiers where it will also play Yemen and Tajikistan in the group.
“The most important thing right now is to win against Nepal next week,” he said. “We have to win four games in the qualifiers and we start with Nepal at home, so we need to score goals.”
The Azkals coach added that a five-day preparation would do the team well, unlike last year when the nationals were a complete roster on only two practices.
Returning goal keeper Neil Etheridge, Javier Patiño and Daisuke Sato, who missed last year’s Suzuki Cup because of conflict with their clubs overseas, were instrumental against the Malaysians.
Also on the team are mainstays Phil Younghusband, James Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Manny Ott, Amani Aguinaldo and Iain Ramsey.
The Philippines drew two matches and lost, 0-1, to Thailand in last year’s Suzuki Cup.