Azkals face toughest opponent in Kuwait

The Philippine Azkals continue to march on after defeating the Sri Lanka Brave Reds in the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Rizal Memorial Football and Track and Field Sunday, 4-0. An overflow crowd of about 14,000, the largest at the football stadium in years, braved the mid-afternoon downpour and the humidity that followed the rains. It was the first time for the Philippines to win a World Cup qualifier.

With the Philippines having played the Sri Lankans to a 1-all standoff in Colombo a week ago, the aggregate score was 5 to 1.

Breaking the ice for the Filipinos in the 19th minute was the diminutive left wing midfielder/forward Emelio (Chieffy) Caligdong from about 15 feet of the goal mouth. A few minutes later, a Sri Lankan was showed the yellow card by one of the four Korean officials assigned to keep order in a game which was marked by some physical contact and verbal exchanges. At the end of the game, four fouls were called against the Filipinos compared to the Sri Lankans three. The Azkals, who attempted 27 times, and the Brave Reds were each shown the yellow card twice.

Some 20 minutes into the second half, Caligdong was down on the pitch and taken out on a stretcher. Four minutes later, the scrappy Caligdong got back into the game to the delight of the crowd. Both squads played aggressively with the Sri Lankans obviously feeling the pressure especially after Fil-British Phil Younghusband made it 2-0 for the Filipinos on the 42nd minute of the first half. The Sri Lankans protested Younghusband’s goal to no avail.

With 50 minutes into the match, rightwing midfielder James Younghusband passed the ball to midfielder Angel Guirado Aldeguer who zigzagged his way into scoring territory and eluded several Sri Lankan defenders to score another goal to make it 3 to zero. The Fil-Spanish Guirado was easily one of the most outstanding players in the Azkals side as he performed his midfielder role of providing the link and the spark in the team’s transition from defense to offense.

Some six minutes after Guirado’s spectacular goal, Phil Younghusband, who was reported to have suffered from severe cramps after the match, scored on a penalty kick to make it 4-0. The Filipinos had clearly mastered the Sri Lankans, ranked per the FIFA Coca-Cola world rankings as of June 29, 2011, 171 in a field of more than 200 countries. The Philippines is ranked 159.

Kuwait, ranked 102, will be the highest ranked team that the Philippines will meet in recent times. Mongolia is at 179 while Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia are ranked 123, 132, 140, 142 and 144, respectively.

The matches in the second round against Kuwait will definitely be much tougher. To begin with, the Kuwaitis have been in one World Cup Finals appearance, the 1982 tournament in Spain which was won by Italy over West Germany, 3-1. The World Cup in Spain marked the first time the finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams thus providing a break for African and Asian teams.

The Kuwaitis, entered in Group 4, battled Czechoslovakia to a 1-1 draw but lost to England and France, which eventually landed in fourth place.

The game between France and Kuwait was, according to reports, a tumultuous one which saw Sheik Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, brother of the Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwaiti Football Association confront Russian referee MIroslav Stupar who allowed a French goal after the Kuwaitis stopped play after they allegedly heard a whistle from the stands. The French played on and scored a goal prompting Al-Sabah to confront Stupar who, surprisingly, disallowed the goal. The decision infuriated the French who promptly scored another goal a few minutes later. The French won, 4-1 while Stupar lost his international refereeing credentials. Al-Sabah was meted a fine of US$10,000.

The Kuwaitis eventually crashed out of the elimination group stage together with the Czechs with a goal difference of -4: two goals scored for versus six goals against. Kuwait drew one game and lost two games: to England and France.

Unsuccessful in World Cup football, the Kuwaitis fared better in the Asian Cup reaching the finals in 1976 and winning the title in 1980. It has also the upper hand in terms of goal difference versus ASEAN teams like Singapore (+12), Thailand (+10), Malaysia (+21), Indonesia (+5) and Vietnam (+1).

The Kuwaitis competed in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Kuwait’s 20-0 victory over tiny Bhutan was, for a time the biggest winning margin in international football. That record was broken when Australia mangled Tonga, 22-0.

Surely, against Kuwait, the Azkals have their work cut out for them.