CAPTAIN PHIL YOUNGHUSBAND HOPEFULLY WILL BE READY AGAINST VIETNAM AFTER SUFFERING FROM A HEAD INJURY AGAINST INDONESIA.
UNDER the watchful eyes of legendary coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, the Philippine Azkals have turned into Lions breezing past the AFF Championships-Suzuki Cup elimination round.
They advanced to the semis against Vietnam with the first leg to be played at the Panaad stadium in Bacolod City on Sunday evening.
Sven has transformed the Azkals like Lions aggressively pouching into their preys. Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are the big boys of ASEAN football and we used to fear them. Now they fear us.
We beat Singapore 1-0 and drew with powerhouses Indonesia (0-0) and Thailand (1-1) and nipped minnows Timor Liste 3-2 in a match where they led by 3-0 early.
It looked easy for the Azkals after finishing with two wins, two draws and a total of eight points, two points behind top team Thailand in Group B, considered as the Group of death.
Sven in his international career has not advanced this far. He led England up to three quarterfinal appearances in the World Cup 2002, Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. He failed to advance thrice.
Of course those tournaments were far bigger than the AFF-Suzuki Cup but coaches success is always measured on how far does his team reaches in a tournament.
In the four matches that the Azkals played, five different players scored goals with Patrick Reichelt finding the back of the net against Singapore, Phil Younghusband, Martin Steuble, Carli de Murga scoring against Timor-Leste and Joven Bedic against Thailand.
They also surrendered only three goals, one against Thailand and two against Timor.
Sven has turned this team into an aggressive all attacking team. They have capitalised on their bigger sizes and bullied their opponents.
The aggressive defending and their non stop attacking formation have bore fruits with the Azkals getting a very high 62% ball possession against 38% by Singapore. They also had 67% ball possession compared to only 33% against Timor-Leste.
Against Thailand the Azkals also dominated with 60% compared to only 40% for the Thais. It was only against Indonesia where they were out possessed with only 46% ball possession compared to 54% for the Indons. It was however a non-bearing match as the Azkals were already sure of advancing to the semis even before the match started.
In total, the Azkals were dominant averaging with 58% ball possession compared to 42% average of their opponents.
Ball possession is the key to winning matches. The more time a team possesses the ball, the more chances it can score. The time for sit-back defending is gone. It is now time for an aggressive defending and an all out attack.
The only problem now is scoring. The Azkals right now do not have any other a consistent scorer aside from Phil Younghusband.
It is actually not a problem and it can work for them. Five Azkals scored one goal each so far. Meaning to say, their opponents will find it difficult to mark every one as anyone could score.
Phil Younghusband left the match against Indonesia with a gush on his head that required three stitches. He assured fans that he is ok.
Will he be ready against Vietnam? If he will be, then it will be bad news for our neighbour across the South China Sea.
They have to mark Phil and leave the rest un-marked. That will be a headache for the opposing a coach. If the Azkals beat Vietnam and advance to the final, then it will be a fairy tale finish for Sven. Let us then hope the fairy tale will not end and will extend to the Asian Cup. (l.biantan@gmail.com)
