THE Philippines ended its 2021 Suzuki Cup run with a nail-biting 3-2 win over Myanmar. The Azkals finished third in Group A with a 2-2 record, ahead of 1-3 Myanmar and 0-4 Timor Leste.
Thailand, 2-nil winner over Singapore, topped the group with 12 points while the Lions finished with a 3-1 card and nine points.
Bievenido Maranon finally showed all the moves and savvy that Philippine Football League and Asian Football Confederation followers know when he scored a hat trick in the first half.
Unfortunately, Myanmar did much better in the second half to make a game of it right down to the final whistle.
Looking at this match, here are the positives I would say:
All three goals were manufactured either from a build-up or strong possession.
For the first goal, Jesper Nyholm won the aerial battle close to the Philippine’s defensive third following Myanmar keeper Myo Min Latt’s forward kick. The ball went to Daisuke Sato on the left and he launched the ball forward to Yrik Gallantes who darted to the middle to pass to Oskari Kekkonen.
Kekkonen passed to the right where Martin Steuble was. Steuble played it back to Kekkonen and with a Myanmar player pressing, sent the ball back to the former.
Steuble found Kevin Ingreso in the middle of the field. Ingreso to Gallantes who cut to the middle of the field then played a pass back to the former. Then Ingreso to the left overlap by Sato who crossed. By now Gallantes had inside the box was unable to latch on to the ball. It fell close to Maranon who controlled the ball then sent a low shot to the right side of the goal.
That was an 11-touch possession that led to a goal.
The second goal was a nine-pass sequence while the third score, a six-pass play.
Besides the obvious solid possession, what I liked about it was players were running into spaces to receive the ball and advance it to a scoring position. All goals were inside the box.
Bienve Maranon took a while to get going and when he did, showed us his scoring savvy. He scored a header, a flick, and well-placed shot from inside the box. He nearly even had a fourth.
There is a reason why Yrik Gallantes is getting playing time.
Gallantes in the middle of the park and has even made his presence felt inside the box. Prior to the first goal, he knocked in a Maranon miss that was rendered a non-goal owing to an offside position by the former.
In the first goal, he actually made contact with the ball inside the box but was unable to get a full boot on it. As a result, it went to Maranon who blasted it in.
I like that Gallantes has given the Azkals that play from the central midfield that was lacking in the first two matches.
I like that some players got better as the tournament went on.
Daisuke Sato has played well since the opening day loss to Singapore. Martin Steuble has done well especially moving forward.
I thought though that Patrick Reichelt, who took the captain’s armband from Stephan Schrock is better in the wings rather than upfront, had difficulty so he didn’t have that desired impact.
I would say that it was a good debut for Nyholm and the others. They will get better from here.
The Azkals took better care of that ball.
In previous matches, they would annoyingly pass the ball back, get caught under pressure then launch the ball forward only to fall into the feet of an opposing player.
They did better this time and showed the quick advancing of the ball.
Having said that, the two goals scored by Myanmar were from misplayed balls by Steuble and Sandro Reyes and an unfortunate slip of a defender. That should not discount from the fact that Myanmar played with more intent in the late second half.
The Burmese started well but quickly lost their heads and shape after. But not in the last 25 minutes of the match.
Some things that in my opinion, the Azkals need to work on:
The 1v1 skills that were absent in this tournament. Too many times, the players in attacking positions couldn’t find that higher gear to blow past their man to advance the ball. In this match, there was an instance where Reichelt got the long ball and had one or two men to beat. But he misplayed it. Had there been some form of trickery, there he would have been one-on-one with the keeper.
To be fair, Reichelt does better when he does get a full steam and room to operate from the flanks.
Still for many other players, I didn’t see them blowing by their man on 1v1 situations.
Continue working on that creative game from the central midfield.
It was still a good win and a good end to end one’s stint in the Suzuki Cup.