The
Philippines' chances to advance to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers
took a serious blow when they lost to Bahrain, 2-0. It was a very lackluster
performance by the Azkals, who never seemed in control of the game.
Here are my
three key impressions from the match.
PLAYMAKERS
NEEDED
Boy, did we
need Javier Patino tonight.
While a
player like Phil Younghusband used to be enough to make opposing defenses in
South East Asia nervous, he is now playing against teams who are used to a much
higher level of competition. That’s one major reason for Phil Younghusband’s
recent goal drought (the other being his changed role on the team) and why
Javier Patino is now even more important to the Azkals’ fortunes. But while Phil Younghusband may have been
found lacking, he still played well. Just not good enough to be the main man that
he used to be.
In this
game, it was Stephan Schrock who starred for the Azkals, who continually
pressed the Bahraini defense, and who was able to get into most dangerous
places. Unfortunately, every one else seemed out of sync and Shrock’s effort
went to naught.
The Azkals
also need improved play from players like Patrick Reichelt and Kevin Ingreso,
who are getting a lot of chances because of the unavailability of other
players. In today’s match, they barely made their presence felt, which became
even more noticeable when the entry of players like Misagh Bahadoran and Paul
Mulders suddenly made the Azkals attack more potent and energetic.
THE BACKLINE
IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Our old
reliable backline was really getting old and the time has come to make the
transition to a younger one. So I’m not going to make too much of a fuss about
our backline composed of youngsters like Daisuke Sato and Amani Aguinaldo,
especially with Jerry Lucena still there as a veteran presence and Stephan
Palla as the exciting newcomer.
But I do
have to say that sometime between the first and second goals, I started wishing
Rob Gier and Juani Guirado were there on the pitch, stabilizing our defense. It’s
something that goes with experience and pitch knowledge. Sometimes, you can’t
keep on making up for your teammate’s mistakes. Sometimes, you all have to man
up and take care of your patch of ground. The backline of Gier, Guirado and
Lucena used to specialize in that. There were rarely any mistakes to cover up
so they each just staked their defensive claim on their patch of the field and threw
every challenge back.
Between the
sticks, Neil Etheridge gets a solid B+. He made no mistakes, made two great
saves and was generally in control. Unfortunately, the Azkals’ defensive lapses
kept putting Etheridge in no-man’s land and he paid dearly with the first goal.
The second goal was just pure genius from Bahrain’s Adnan Hussain, and no one
could be blamed for that. Not Bahadoran, who gave up the foul so close to the
goal, nor the Azkals wall which jumped high to deny the over-the-top kick, nor
Etheridge, who tried to make a diving save.
FITNESS
CHECK
It could
have been the extreme change in weather. And the long journey. And the change
in time zone. And the toll of playing two hard fought, high quality matches in
just a week’s time. For whatever reason, the Azkals team tonight looked tired
right from the very start.
While the
Bahrainis were pressing wildly all over the field, the Azkals played with more
control. However, that control soon turned into passiveness, as they kept
losing balls to the Bahrainis and kept losing their marks when Bahrain pressed
their attack.
The Azkals
were actually very lucky tonight, because the Bahrainis didn’t have their
shooting touch either. In the first half alone, Bahrain screwed up two 1-on-1
situations with Etheridge, first shooting the ball wide, then shooting it over
the bar. There were another 3 instances in the second half when Bahrain could
have scored but screwed it up instead. Those instances came with the Azkals
defense caught sleeping or worse, walking back when they should have been
running back.
Believe me,
we were lucky to get away with a 0-2 loss. It could just as easily have been a
0-5 loss.
MOVING
FORWARD
What does this mean for us? Well, our path to
the next stage has become like a lottery. Miniscule chances of winning but, if
everything goes our way (losses by Uzbekistan and North Korea will be topmost
among the things that need to go our way), there’s still a chance. However,
much like the lottery, I really wouldn’t go bet on it.
But I still
think our next few games will be important and crucial. These will provide our
team (and especially our youngsters) with big game experience that may help us
qualify in the next round of World Cup qualifiers.
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