In fact, it was Yemen who had the clearer shots at goal, with two coming dangerously close. Each of those two happened the same way: with well timed passes, one threading the suddenly caught off-guard Azkals defense, the other, lofted over the heads of the Azkals back four.
I'm suddenly missing the intelligent defensive work by Rob Gier and Juani Guirado. They may not be as speedy as Sato, Lucena, Palla or Woodland but their experience lets them anticipate plays better, minimizing worrying situations like that.
At the 35th mark, the game suddenly changed. The Yemeni, who've been pressing the Azkals hard until that point, suddenly, seemed to slow down. The Azkals also seemed to settle into the game, suddenly finding it easier to loft crosses into dangerous areas, such as the middle of the box. Patino suddenly had a couple of chances, and Manny Ott had a screamer that was punched away by the Yemeni keeper at the last second. Had that gone in, it would have instantly made the list of Azkals' top ten goals.
So, at the halfway mark, the score is still 0-0. But the Azkals seemed to be getting stronger while the Yemeni are tiring. Let's hope the Azkals take advantage.
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