Azkals blank Nepalese in ‘violent’ friendly

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals shifted to high gear in the second half to hack out a 3-0 win over Nepal in a rugged Fifa international friendly Friday night before thousands of Filipino and Nepalese supporters at Al Arabi Stadium in Doha, Qatar (early yesterday in Manila).

Simon Greatwich came off the bench to draw first blood four minutes after restart and skipper Phil Younghusband (90’) and striker Mark Hartmann (90+3’) scored late goals as the Azkals, only with 17 players in tow, continued their mastery over the Gorkhalis.

Prior to this friendly, the Phl booters beat the Nepalese 4-0 in Manila and 3-0 last April also in Doha.

Greatwich replaced Martin Steuble at halftime and wasted little time making his move, beating Nepal captain Sagar Thapa then firing a shot through the legs of goalie Kiran Chemjong to the delight of a good-sized Pinoy crowd.

Nepal was reduced to 10 men as Jagjeet Shrestha was sent off at the 64th minute for violently confronting Daisuke Sato after the latter brought down Bimal Gharti Magar.

It was only after about 26 minutes that the Azkals found the back of the net again. Phl earned a penalty kick when Hartmann was thrown down inside the box.  Younghusband, who wore the captain’s band, gamely converted the penalty for a 2-0 lead and his 39th international goal.

Hartmann got on the scoresheet three minute into stoppage time off a feed by Jerry Lucena as the Azkals finished with flourish.

The Azkals won despite not fielding a full-bodied squad. The team couldn’t secure the release of Patrick Reichelt, Juani Guirado, Manny Ott and Jeff Christiaens from Ceres La Salle FC, although it did have overseas-based Jerry Lucena and Martin Steuble, and new Fil-Spanish recruit Alvaro Silva for the pre-Suzuki Cup training camp and friendly.  Silva is still processing his Phl passport and other requirements but the match commissioner allowed the mainstay of AFC Cup champion Qadsia to suit up against Nepal already.

 “Looking forward to having the team together after the club commitments,” said team manager Dan Palami.

He noted that the Azkals found it difficult to play again on the grass field of Al Arabi, having used to artificial turfs at Rizal and Emperador over in Manila.

“We badly need practice on natural grass,” said Palami. “Most of the players had difficulty adjusting in the first half after having been used to playing in the turf field at home. But we should be ready by the time we leave for Hanoi (Suzuki Cup).”