THE men’s national team seized control of their destiny in the 2021 Suzuki Cup following a 7-0 thrashing of Timor Leste.
That thrashing has been the biggest score thus far in this tournament. The last time the Philippines put that many in the back of the net was also against Timor Leste during the 2007 qualifications (November 12, 2006, at Panaad Stadium) with Phil Younghusband scoring four goals with Chris Greatwich, Ariel Zerrudo and Chieffy Caligdong adding one of their own.
The single worst beating any team took with the losing team unable to score was 8-0 with Thailand rolling all over Timor Leste on December 12, 2004, at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
Here are our takeaways from that huge win:
The 7-0 win put the Philippines in a position to advance.
Right now, the Philippines sits in third spot of Group A with a 1-1 record and three points and plus-six in terms of goal difference.
Thailand and Singapore are both 2-0 with six points each although the former is atop the standings with a plus-six goal difference to the latter’s plus-four.
Thailand has only played the bottom two squads of Group A in Myanmar and Timor Leste. Their next opponent is the Philippines and lastly, Singapore.
If the Philippines can get a favorable result against Thailand and then crush Myanmar, the final group stage opponent, they could advance. Providing of course, Singapore also gets a favorable result against Thailand.
The Azkals’ win placed pressure on Thailand
You can be sure Thailand was keeping tabs on the Philippines-Timor Leste match as they took on Myanmar immediately after. They knew they needed to score goals to make things less uncomplicated. Thus, they crushed Myanmar, 4-nil.
The War Elephants, too, control their destiny so they need favorable results against the Philippines next Tuesday (December 14) and Singapore (December 18).
Just as the Singapore-Philippines match was crucial for both sides, the Philippines-Thailand game will decide who will advance to the next round.
Which team will have more pressure (either the Philippines or Thailand) is irrelevant. There is something at stake for both. Weakened or not, the Azkals do not come here to get eliminated. They like to keep that semifinals appearances going.
The match saw a lot of contributions from a lot of players
Martin Steuble opened scoring for the Philippines with screamer from outside the box. Granted Timor Leste’s Aderito Fernandes could have done better and kept out a couple of attempts, but probably not Steuble’s shot.
On that shot went in, the ice was broken and the Philippines moved forward with a lot more confidence.
Seven different players scored—Steuble, Amin Nazaro who scored his second goal of the tournament, Angel Guirado, Patrick Reichelt, Jesper Nyholm, Bienvenido Maranon and Kevin Ingreso.
That gives a lot of confidence to a lot of people. And once more, Kevin Hansen was solid. You have to like his poise, command and ball distribution (not that he needed to do much).
I like that the coaching staff sat down many of the starters for the second half to give them more rest and to prevent any injuries.
Maranon and Guirado got untracked.
It is always important for your strikers to get some goals. That emboldens them more so with Thailand coming up.
Maranon’s strike was resolute and powerful while Guirado’s header was sublime.
Bienve got his first goal for the Philippines while Guirado notched his first in this 2021 edition and his second in this tournament (after he got his first in 2012). In a way, it was a belated birthday gift for Guirado who celebrated his birthday last December 9.
Now, Thailand will pay more attention to them and that will open up the game for the other Azkals.
The Philippines hasn’t beaten Thailand in this competition. It is obvious Thailand is favored but the Azkals…well, they relish being the underdog.