Five Keys For The Azkals To Win.

Today, the Azkals take their first step in rewriting Philippine football history. A win today in Sri Lanka would almost certainly put the Azkals into the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, a stage we have never set foot on.

But for that to happen, we need to see these five things:
A DOMINANT ANGEL GUIRADO.  The Fil-Spanish midfielder has turned into the offensive linchpin for the Azkals. Azkal observers have noted the shift in offensive responsibilities, as Guirado slowly became the playmaker of the Azkals. His size, speed and skill have caused defenders to key in to him, freeing up the other players like the Younghusbands, Caligdong and Araneta. He may not be scoring a lot but he is certainly assisting on a lot of goals.


AN AGGRESSIVE PHIL YOUNGHUSBAND. Since last year, Azkal opponents have made it their mission to keep the Fil-Brit striker marked and checked, sometimes by two, sometimes by three defenders. Which was a pretty good move, since Phil Younghusband used to be the only scoring threat on the Azkals. But the arrival of Guirado has freed up Phil, as seen during the Germany tune up games. With Guirado commanding attention, Phil can now go back to his core strength: scoring goals.

A GOOD SHOWING FROM THE NEW AZKALS. There are a lot of new faces on the Azkals team. Players like Paul Mulders, Manny Ott, Nate Burkey Misagh Bahadoran, Stephen Schrock, Dennis Cagara and Jerry Lucena need to showcase their skills honed on football hotbeds (like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark). If they can translate those European skills and tactics and incorporate it into th Azkals system, then the Azkals become less predictable and more dangerous.

A BETTER DEFENSIVE EFFORT. The Azkals backline must be solid and steady today. Our recent losses (Indonesia, Mongolia, Ingolstadt) came about because of defensive lapses that they opponent capitalized on. That is actually the reason why a lot of foreign defenders (Ray Jonsson, Cagara, Schrock, Lucena, Rob Gier) are on the team. They are expected to stiffen up the Azkals defense, led by Azkals team captain Ally Borromeo and Anton del Rosario.

AN NOT-SO FATIGUED NEIL ETHERIDGE. Neil Etheridge has certainly made the GK spot on the Azkals one of our strengths. But a goalkeeper is always at a disadvantage and we can't keep asking Neil Etheridge to save us from our defensive shortcomings. Etheridge is more than equal to the task at hand but if we keep giving the Brave Reds chances, some of them are bound to go in.

So there you have, The Sportsters keys to an Azkals victory. We'll keep you updated on the game later so check back here at around 5:30PM Philippine time.

SPORTSTER FEARLESS PREDICTION: AZKALS 1 (PYounghusband), SRI LANKA 0.