ELEVEN years ago, then-Singapore head coach Raddy Avramovic was asked his thoughts of his team’s first assignment of the Suzuki Cup that was against the Philippines. His terse reply was “Ask me again when you’ve won a game.”
While the Philippines didn’t defeat Singapore in the 2010 Suzuki Cup (they drew, 1-1), the Filipinos have posted a winning 3-2-2 (win-loss-draw) slate since. That last time they both met was in the 2018 staging where Patrick Reichelt scored the only goal for a Philippines win.
Of course, no one wins games based on previous results or reputation alone. They need to win it on the pitch.
The Philippines will find some of their concerns mirrored by its Suzuki Cup foes.
For starters, the Lions enter the competition with players missing their camp in Dubai and possibly, even the tournament all together. Safuwan Bahrudin, Irfan Fandi and Zulfahmi Arifin were all recalled by their respective foreign clubs in the middle of their training camp.
In a preview for the Singapore broadsheet The Straits Times, former Singapore defender R. Sasikumar (incorrectly) observed, “The Philippines will be able to call on many European-based players of mixed heritage from different foreign clubs, so they will have the edge in terms of physicality.”
Most of the Filipino players of mixed heritage were not released by their clubs since the tournament does not fall under an official Fifa calendar. Granted, this is the first time it happened—it does have repercussions. And that has been noted.
He did get something correct when he underscored this: “But as we have seen from the Asian Football Confederation Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, they may not be so familiar with each other and will rely more on individual brilliance rather than teamwork.”
It is rather annoying when other countries call out the Philippines for using players of mixed heritage when they have naturalized far too many players for a national side that one wonders how they were able to suit up all at the same time.
They perhaps forget that Aleksandar Duric (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Fahrudin Mustafic (Serbia) and Daniel Bennett (England) were in the 2010 squad.
For this 2021 Suzuki Cup, the Lions have fit South Korean-born Song Ui-young into the line-up that already includes Denmark-born Jacob Mahler.
Lions supporters have expressed concerns about fitness and morale in this time of Covid-19. But so is every other fan for their respective side.
And lastly, there are questions whether Singapore can pull together in time after unofficial friendlies with Kyrgyzstan (a 2-1 loss despite the winning team being down to 10 men), and Morocco (a 7-1 loss). The Lions also fell short a win—a 3-0 loss to Saudi Arabia, a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Uzbekistan, and a 4-0 hiding from Palestine all in World Cup Qualification, and a 1-1 draw with Afghanistan in a friendly. All these six matches were played this 2021.
Granted they played superior competition, they still looked disjointed and were shaky on defense.
However, Singapore’s Japanese head coach Tatsuma Yoshida doesn’t believe that the losses would have any bearing. He knows they are playing higher ranked teams and come the Suzuki Cup, they will not be far off from other squads.
They do have something to cheer about with striker Ikhsan Fando who was allowed by his Norwegian club, FK Jerv, to play in the Suzuki Cup, and they will be playing at home.
The Philippines went 1-1-1 in the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers with a 2-0 loss to China, a 3-0 win over Guam and a 1-1 draw with Maldives.
There are concerns about the fitness and conditioning of the players and if they have even had the opportunity to train.
Like Singapore, the Azkals will also have something to cheer about as naturalized player Bienvenido Maranon will make his Philippines debut in this tournament.
Whether the Philippines runs it 3-5-2 or Singapore its 4-2-3-1 formation at this point is irrelevant. It will come down to who gets their tactics right, who adjusts, who performs, and who wants it more.
The Philippines and Singapore battle on Wednesday, December 8, at 8:30 p.m. The 2021 Suzuki Cup and the matches of the Philippines will be televised on the Premier Football channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on streaming via the Tap Go application.