What
is Neil Etheridge doing???
That’s
pretty much what the announcers are saying when they saw the Azkals’ goalie in the middle of the
football court as if he is a midfielder.
You
can’t blame Etheridge though. Etheridge was extremely, extremely bored. After
the Azkals scored their first goal, all the Mongolians did was to defend their goal. They we’re even trying to
score as if to say that if they can limit the Azkals to one goal, then it would
be easy for them to score a bunch in their home turf. The poor Mongolian goalie
was wasted because he was thoroughly defending his goal and it didn’t help that
Ian Araneta almost took him out of
action.
This
is purely accidental as both of them were chasing the ball.
Anyway
while the Mongolian goalie is having his “fun”, Etheridge is pleading for TV
time and he’s doing it by kicking those long balls a couple of feet outside his
post. One time, he caught TV time by almost injuring himself when he stepped on
a hole near the field.
Why are there gutters near the
soccer field???
Nearing
the end of the first half, Emil
Caligdong scored a very, VERY, awesome goal where he almost fumbles the
ball, saves it, before blasting the ball to the goal in between the Mongolian
goalkeeper’s thighs! Caligdong is one of three Philippine Air Force players still playing for the squad. Before that, the Azkals are having a tough
time making the referee see that the Mongolians are playing extremely physical.
But the ref is also letting go of the antics the Azkals are doing so I can’t
really say that the officiating is one-sided.
During
the last play of the match, it seems as if that Jason Sabio chickened out of a goal but he crosses the ball nicely
to the open Phil Younghusband to
score the Azkals’ second goal. This happened during extra time and this gives
the Azkals a bit of leverage when they go to Mongolia on March 15.
In
front of a roaring, predominantly pro-Azkals crowd (since this is our home turf),
Team
Philippines wins over Mongolia, 2-0 to give them a boost at the pre-qualifying stages of the AFC Challenge Cup.
One
thing the Azkals did right from the get-go was their impressive ball control.
This is a total 360 from the last time we saw the Azkals in international
action. It seems as if all the support from the fans and the sponsors are
paying off nicely. Whenever the Mongolians try to attack, the defenders will
always try to stop their run. Rob Gier,
Anton del Rosario, Aly Borromeo, and Ray Jonsson forced a lot of miscues while
Caligdong, Phil, James Younghusband,
Jason de Jong, Simon Greatwich, and Roel Gener made life difficult for their
Mongolian counterparts.
While
they fielded in more attempts, their scoring must to improve. There were a lot
of weak shots kicked to the goal and it seems as if their attempts lack “pektus”.
While what Caligdong did was really, really creative, they seriously need to
practice their offense. They also need to improve on their spacing because it
seems that they are forcing their way inside a clogged lane.
But
other than that, the turnout in terms of exposure, gate attendance, and fanfare
means that football is here to stay. Before this, the only footgame I watched
from start to finish was when the 2004
Red Devils from South Korea
performed awesomely in the World Cup.
Now I
understand why I like football now.
And
that’s because we have a great football team to cheer at!
Hopefully the Azkals can find a stadium in Manila because it sucks that the Panaad Stadium have all the fun!
Hopefully the Azkals can find a stadium in Manila because it sucks that the Panaad Stadium have all the fun!
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We are very, very happy right now! |
The highest FIFA ranking the team had in a
while is 150. We are currently 152.
Let’s
see if the Azkals are awesome enough to realize their potential.
Game over!
Do you actually watch real football, hindi yung kwento-kwento lang? You sounded like a noob.
ReplyDeleteI should actually because football fever in the philippines is barely a year old. i wouldn't even care about football if the azkals aren't playing.
ReplyDeletehowever i saw the match and i call it as i see it. the match finished when caligdong scored the goal because afterwards the mongolians did whatever they can to stop the azkals from scoring because they have already surrendered this game. there is room for improvement. a very, VERY big room for improvement for the azkals just like my writing.
in terms of real football, is there a fake football?