'We're not raising white flag, only national flag'

MANILA, Philippines - When the Philippine Azkals check in at the familiar, cool environs of good ol’ Rizal Memorial for tonight’s matchup against powerhouse Kuwait, they will be waving not the white flag of surrender but the country’s tricolors.

“The fight is not over and we still have a chance to pull through,” said winger Chieffy Caligdong in Filipino. He donned the captain’s armband the first time around when the Azkals dropped a 0-3 setback to Al Azraq in hot, humid Kuwait.

“You could see all the players eager to move to the next round,” added the veteran Ilonggo,. He who was so devastated with the first leg outcome that he hardly spoke to anyone during the post-game dinner and went straight to his hotel room immediately after chow.

The fact that the second leg will be held at home, with the large crowd feeding off their energy, gives Caligdong and his teammates all the reasons to feel capable of pulling a fight back.

“We don’t lose hope on this home game. Everybody is raring to play for the fans,” he said.

The only homegrown and locally-trained starter in the Azkals team, Caligdong knows the stakes are high and requires such a Herculean effort against a side that’s considered a power in the Arab world.

“Kuwait didn’t come here only to play, they’re out to win so we will have to show all the hard work and effort during the game, let them feel we really want to win,” said Caligdong.

The diminutive Caligdong has been the team’s firebrand in their most recent home games, drawing first blood in the Azkals’ victories over Mongolia last February in the AFC Challenge Cup playoffs and Sri Lanka last month in the first round of the Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

But for the Airforce man to get a chance to do his now familiar “airplane run” after a goal, the Azkals have to take over the midfield to jumpstart their offensives.

“It’s hard to maintain good defense all the time, that’s the problem in our midfield in the first game plus the fact that we lost an experienced defensive player so nawalan kami ng command sa ilalim at sa gitna,” he said, referring to defender Borromeo and midfielder Stephan Schrock who served out their suspension in the opener.

“We’re doing fine offensively, all we need is to convert some of those scoring chances, ,” he added.

And scoring goals they must as the Azkals have to beat Al Azraq by four goals to win the two-leg series on aggreate and advance to the third round.