Philippines booters eye upset for ages

MANILA, Philippines — After breaking a 52-year winless streak against Thailand, is a breakthrough finals stint in Southeast Asia’s centerpiece football tournament up next for fearless Philippines?

That’s certainly the agenda as the Filipinos go for the kill shot and try to complete the upset for the ages against seven-time winners Thailand in Leg 2 of the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup semifinals tonight.

But unlike in their monumental 2-1 upset in Friday’s opening leg in front of friendly faces in Manila, the Pinoy booters will have to get it done in hostile territory in Bangkok, where the wounded three-peat-seeking War Elephants and their 50,000-plus rabid supporters lie in wait at Rajamangala Stadium.

“We need to be mentally tough throughout the whole 90 minutes,” said Philippine team manager Freddy Gonzalez ahead of their gargantuan task at 9 p.m. (Manila time).

Thanks to the famous result in Leg 1, the Filipinos go into the return leg with a one-goal edge. And all they need is a draw in the Thai capital to win the two-legged semis on goal aggregate and advance to the Jan. 2 and 5 Last Dance against either Vietnam or Singapore.

Another victory, of course, will be good for the soul moving to the upgraded objective of a milestone championship.

A loss by one goal will lead to a 30-minute extra time and potentially a penalty shootout to determine the winner of this Final Four matchup. But a loss by two goals or more will be catastrophic.

“I never go for a draw,” said coach Albert Capellas.

“We go for a win and then let’s see if we can win, if we can draw, or whatever result happens. I never play for a draw. Philippines, we are winners,” he added.

The prospect of playing a historic home game in the finale gives the Filipinos added motivation to bring this to the finish line.

“The job is not even halfway done,” Sandro Reyes said after the Philippines eked out its first victory over Thailand since 1972.

“We have a really difficult second leg coming up and we want to play a final in Manila, so we'll give everything to play that final game."