Azkals seal Phl's first football title

MANILA, Philippines - It took the Philippine Azkals only 10 minutes to break the backs of their opponents from Chinese-Taipei and win the country’s first international football title in a long, long time.

The crowd at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium erupted in cheers after Denis Wolf, the Azkals’ newest sensation, scored from just in front of the goal mouth to seal the Philippines’ 3-1 victory.

Wolf, who delivered a rare hat-trick in the Azkals 5-0 rout of Macau last Thursday, once again hit the big shot. Immediately after, his teammates were all over him, kissing him.

Wolf ran toward the corner and faced the crowd, including a big group of Filipino fanatics. He was pulling his shirt like he wanted to rip it off, and the crowd roared in approval.

After three days of competition, the Azkals were crowned champions of the Philippine Football Peace Cup, which is known as the Long Teng Cup when it is played in Taiwan.

The last time the Philippines won a football crown was in the 1913 Far East Games.

And it came despite the absence of the finest Azkals, including brothers Phil and James Younghusband who are embroiled in some controversy involving their comitment to the team.

In the 34th minute, Azkals team captain Chiefy Caligdong pounced on a passing error by the Taiwanese and fired a shot from outside the penalty box. It was a clear shot.

In no time, the Azkals were up, 2-nil, against a team they’ve never beaten before. After Caligdong’s goal, the Taiwanese looked so demoralized and heartbroken.

Scoring goals in big matches is nothing new for Caligdong, a member of the Philippine Air Force. After this one, he pulled his jersey up, and underneath is another shirt saying, “Jesus Loves Us.”

The crowd loved him back as well, and it took a couple of minutes for them to settle down, knowing that a 2-0 lead was enough to give the Azkals the cushion they needed.

But they weren’t done because in the 43rd minute, the Azkals scored once more, this time courtesy of OJ Porteria and on another passing error by the Taiwanese side.

It was quite an unbelievable first half for the Azkals who had 10 attempts and six on target by the time the referee blew his whistle.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss was smiling as he walked off the field and into the halftime break.

The Taiwanese had four attempts but were on target only once in the first half. They broke the ice on the 52nd minute on a bungled catch by Azkals goalie Edward Sacapano.

The Taiwanese played like wounded Tigers and have visibly become more aggressive. They had better chances and for a while it looked like the Azkals were rattled.

Wolf came close to another goal on the 58th minute but hit it to the side of the net.

The Taiwanese had another golden chance to score if not for a perfect tackle by Demitrius Omphroy on Chang Chan inside the penalty box. The non-call was vehemently protested by Chinese Taipei Football Association vice president Leo Fu Tsai,

He was all over the referee and was eventually ordered ejected. But he refused to leave. Stone-faced, he defied the order, and play was halted for nearly 10 minutes.

The crowd started chanting “Peace!” and flashed the peace sign, all directed toward the Taiwanese official who later on agreed to leave. He was ushered to a seat in the stands.

In the 93rd minute, the Taiwanese were awarded a penalty and a chance to narrow the gap. But Sacapao was up to the task, and saved the day for the Philippines.

The homegrown goalie was mobbed by his teammates like he just scored the winning goal. He was later on named the tournament’s best goalie.