Azkals | Pilipinas Futbol | Philippine Azkals | Philippines Football

Why did the Azkals-Incheon game go to penalties?

2012-01-21T22:53:00.011+08:00

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If there is one thing I hate about football, that is the penalty shootout. In the case of the Azkals-Incheon Citizen FC game tonight, the organizers of the friendly match shot themselves on the foot by deciding that there should be a winner.

The Azkals knew it was going to have a difficult time against the Koreans because Incheon is a formidable opponent. Nonetheless, Micheal Weiss' team needed a result that they can build on as they prepare for the AFC Challenge Cup. Marwin Angeles' goal in the 89th minute gave exactly what the team and the home crowd needed. A 1-1 draw would have been a fantastic result already considering that many players in the squad were not able to suit up in tonight's game.

I did not see any benefit for the Azkals by calling this game to go to penalties. Besides, it's a lousy way to end a game and it did not do any justice to the Azkals brilliant second half performance.

Azkals Kia jersey, Marwin Angeles goal, Studio 23 coverage

2012-01-21T21:48:00.013+08:00

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Today's game against the Incheon Citizen FC saw the Azkals sport a red kit with a KIA logo, the number imprinted at the back is colored yellow (at least that's how it appeared on TV), and it did not display the players' names. It's refreshing to see the national squad in red, but I'm not certain if the choice of color is intentional since they traditionally wear blue. Or is it because the Koreans wore a light blue kit. I think red is a lousy color though. After all there are too many ASEAN teams wearing red like Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

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Azkals goal scorer Marwin Angeles, as we are told by Studio 23 commentators, missed the cut in the Under-23 squad that competed in the SEA games. His outside the box goal was made possible by a set piece play when the team was desperately pushing forward as the clock was approaching the 90th minute mark. Would he have made a difference with the team in Jakarta? That's unlikely.

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Studio 23 made a decent coverage of the Azkals-Incheon Citizen FC game with their combination of local and English commentary (and I mean a Filipino and an Englishman). I'm just puzzled with the term "End of Regulation" that the network used to describe the end of the 90-minute time and stoppage time. Do you think it's more of a basketball term instead of football. To my knowledge, I think the "End of Full-Time" is the more appropriate term.

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Speaking of Studio 23 again, their graphics for a penalty shootout needs some improvement. Usually, with what I see in football games during a penalty shootout, there are two rows with 5 circles each representing the attempts given to each team. When a team scores in each attempt, the circle turns to green, and red or blank if they miss. I'm not sure if the network prepared for such a scenario tonight. Showing the total score is a nice thing, but for the benefit of the viewers they also need to show how many attempts have already been made so far.

Azkals loses to Incheon via penalties

2012-01-21T21:15:00.010+08:00

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The Philippine Azkals kept the pressure in the second half and was eventually rewarded with a 89th minute goal by Marwin Angeles to level the score at 1-1. The Korean side started the scoring for the charity game dubbed as the Rio Cup with a first half goal from Bin Tae Kwan in the 21st minute. As stipulated by the rules set by the organizers of the event, the game would go to a penalty shootout should it end in draw.

In the penalty shootout, the Azkals side failed to score in two occasions, while the Koreans took care of their four attempts, which was enough to give them a 4-2 win.

AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 Semifinals: Indonesia scores 2nd win over Philippines, secures Cup final

2010-12-20T13:39:00.003+08:00

After 180 minutes of tense football against a team that has so much to prove, Indonesia can finally relax and look forward to their cup final tie against Malaysia.

Cristian Gonzalez’s scoring touch once again proved to be the difference as Indonesia finally put the Philippines’ resistance to rest, winning 1-0 in the second leg and 2-0 on aggregate.

The pair of 1-0 defeats by the Philippines is not something to be upset about admitted Philippines coach Simon McMenemy, considering the team’s overall performance in the tournament. After years of being considered the minnows of football in the region, the Azkals has gained a new reputation as well as experience.

“The boys are gutted as they would be after losing a semi-final but to get to where they’ve got is an achievement,” says the Briton coach.

McMenemy’s counterpart Alfred Riedl admits the game made his wards nervous especially in the second half when the Philippines was pushing forward and getting the ball in the danger zone.

“Our opponents made it difficult for us to win the match today,” confessed Riedl after the match. He also compares the Philippines as more like a European team than a Southeast Asian team because of their physical fitness.

Riedl also believes the task at hand against Malaysia in the final will be difficult despite winning earlier 5-1 win in the group stages. He thinks the final will be a lot closer compared to their first meeting and challenged his players to handle the pressure much better than they did against the Philippines.

AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 Semifinals: Indonesia Takes 1-0 Lead over Philippines in First Leg

2010-12-17T10:30:00.003+08:00

Article first published as AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 Semifinals: Indonesia Takes 1-0 Lead over Philippines in First Leg on Technorati.

Indonesia’s Uruguayan-born striker Christian Gonzalez took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Philippines to give Indonesia a narrow 1-0 lead going into the second leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals.

Gonzalez successfully headed a goal after a sublime cross from teammate Firman Utina in the 32nd minute. Fulham and Philippines goalkeeper Neil Etheridge miscalculated the pass and mixed up with his defender Ray Jonsson, paving the way for Gonzalez to seize the opening and score the winning goal.

Favorites to win the tournament after going unbeaten in the group stages, Indonesia only needs a draw in the second leg to secure their entry to final. The Philippines remain winless against Indonesia after 18 head-to-head matches.

The Philippines, the surprise entry in this tournament’s knockout stages, displayed some form of brilliance on the pitch despite the intimidating atmosphere inside the 70,000-capacity Bung Karno Main Stadium. They nearly equalized in the second half after James Younghusband shot a bicycle kick on an empty goal only to be blocked by a rushing Zulkifli Syukur in the final moment.

Despite the win, the Indonesian side remains cautiously confident of their chances against the Filipinos as their semifinal draw moves toward the second leg this weekend. “They are not the same Philippines team as before when everybody thought that we could easily win against them without much of a struggle,” said Indonesian assistant coach Wolfgang Pikal speaking to the AFFSuzukiCup.com.

PH draws Myanmar, earns first semis in 14 years

2010-12-09T06:11:00.007+08:00

The Philippines finished the group stage of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup with a scoreless draw against Myanmar. The result was enough to send the Azkals to its first-ever semifinal appearance in Southeast Asia's biggest football tournament.

The Philippines was denied a goal after hitting the woodwork four times in the entire game. Displaying the same well-organized defense that resulted to a clean sheet against Vietnam last Sunday, the Azkals frustrated a clearly outclassed Myanmar squad, which finished the tournament at the bottom of Group B.

In the other Group B fixture, Vietnam's first half goal against Singapore proved to be the winner and sent the holders to the semifinals. Anxiety was high in the Vietnam camp after the hosts suffered a shocking loss to the Filipinos in the weekend making the Singapore game a must-win for the tournament co-hosts.

The semifinal round will feature a two-leg home-and-away format. The semis will feature Group A winner Indonesia against the Philippines and Group B winner Vietnam versus Malaysia.

Here is the schedule of games for the semifinal stages:

December 15, 2010 (venue: Malaysia)
Semifinal Leg 1: Malaysia v Vietnam

December 16, 2010 (venue: Philippines/neutral ground)
Semifinal Leg 1: Philippines v Indonesia

December 18, 2010 (venue: Vietnam)
Semifinal Leg 2: Vietnam v Malaysia

December 19, 2010 (venue: Indonesia)
Semifinal Leg 2: Indonesia v Philippines

PH-Azkals stuns hosts Vietnam in Suzuki Cup, nears historic semis appearance

2010-12-06T12:31:00.003+08:00

Two goals from Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband silenced 40,000 Vietnamese fans at the My Dinh National Stadium and lead the Philippines to a 2-0 win over holders Vietnam in 2010 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.

The Azkals, who shocked the Singapore Lions last week with a stoppage time equalizer by tournament co-top goal scorer Greatwich, is now level with Singapore with 4 points in Group B but have claimed top spot because of the their head-to-head result.

Pundits regarded the Philippine team as having the weakest squad in the entire competition because of their past performance and even had to go through a qualifying round before making it through this year’s tournament proper.

The Philippines will meet a winless but dangerous Myanmar team on Wednesday for their final group stage game. A draw by the Azkals will be enough to send them to their first ever semifinal appearance in the tournament. The Vietnam-Singapore encounter will virtually be a knockout match to determine which team will advance to the semifinals.

Co-host Indonesia has currently pulled away from the rest of Group A after claiming back-to-back wins as Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos hope to claim the other semifinal spot in the final group fixtures on Tuesday.

Sights and sounds of Liverpool's Southeast Asia tour

2010-03-31T08:56:00.025+08:00

This blog post is submitted as part of Sony Ericsson’s Extra Time campaign. You can read the other local football stories here. :)

While taking our bus ride going to the Kallang National Stadium in Singapore, I was amazed to see throngs of people on the streets wearing Liverpool shirts and carrying "You are not alone" flags, all headed to the 55,000-capacity venue. This is exactly the feeling my wife Kat and I wanted to experience when we decided to travel all the way from Manila to Singapore to see our favorite English Premier League club Liverpool FC.

For $88, tickets were relatively pricey. However, for the chance to see stars like Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso, who was set to join Real Madrid at the start of that season, it was worth it.

Weeks prior to the event, there was news that team skipper Steven Gerrard was not going to make the club's Southeast Asian tour, which dampened the hopes of almost all die-hard Liverpool fans in the region who were hoping to see one of the most popular players in the world. But we found out that Liverpool is more than just the club's top players.

It was the thrill of being in a stadium with thousands of Liverpool fans from different countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia which made the entire experience "Anfield-like." From the singing along to the club's theme "You are not alone," to drinking a Carlsberg beer during gametime, and lifting of the club scarf after each goal is scored, it did not really matter whether it was a seldom-used reserve or it was Javier Mascherano who was on the pitch, it was Liverpool.

Thanks to our Sony Ericsson W910i, we were able to capture all the sights and sounds of our "The Kop Comes to Asia 2009" experience and relish each moment back here in Manila. Being there personally definitely is a wonderful experience and we would like to share those moments through the photos and videos we took.