3-0 win over Cambodia lifts Azkals’ spirits

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals routed Cambodia, 3-0, Friday night at Rizal Memorial Stadium to gain a “feel-good” triumph heading to next week’s Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.

Daisuke Sato blasted a long bomb at the 13th minute while Manny Ott broke through at the 40th and Phil Younghusband scored his milestone international goal No. 40 at the 90th as the Azkals boosted their confidence five days before leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam for the Asean tilt.

“Most of the time, we played the way that I expected, well, except for like 20 minutes in the second half, when we were under pressure and played with less players in the midfield and made it easier for them (Angkor Warriors) to go through. We’re gonna have to review that. But overall, it was a good game,” said coach Thomas Dooley.

The win over the Angkor Warriors revved up the Pinoy booters’ bruised ego from the 0-3 spanking they received from the War Elephants in Nakhon Ratchasima last week.

“We recovered very well from the last game. It was mental downer losing 3-0, you’re mentally and physically tired and then you get up to playing a ‘little game’ like this and with that kind of enthusiasm. We have six to eight days before the first game in the tournament and I think we can improve (further),” said Dooley.

Ranged against younger and less fancied opponents and more recharged than the weary side that previously battled the Thais, the Azkals took the game to the Angkor Warriors and created scoring opportunities early on.

Sato put the home team on the board with a 30-yard shot. The second goal came late in the first, with Ott doing a trail job on Younghusband’s attack and followed it up for his maiden international goal. It took the Azkals until near the end of the match before connecting again with Younghusband chalking up his 40th overall.

“It was a game where we can get some confidence, play some nice balls, find the forwards and create chances. And I could see that the players are getting fitter than they were last week. It was obvious in Thailand that the players were ‘dead’ and don’t have the legs anymore.

“Today you can see for like 60-70 minutes we played good football that we wanna play. Obviously, the Suzuki Cup is a little bit more different but overall, I’m happy with the game,” said Dooley.

The stretch saw the Azkals giving the Angkor Warriors the opening to attack and make Patrick Deyto busier tending the net. Overall, the Pinoy booters only outshot the Cambodians by three, 14-11.

“I’m concerned with our defensive shape in the midfield; that we don’t make it too easy for opponents to go through, closing the gap, all the defensive organization. We have to improve on that still,” said the Phl XI mentor.

Captain Rob Gier was pulled out after 30 minutes after sensing “tightness” on his hamstring. But Dooley maintained that it was just “precautionary measure” against a possible pulled hamstring that the veteran central defender might incur later with a hard hit or tackle.