Inspired Azkals out to keep 2nd vs Bahrainis

MANAMA – The Philippine Azkals seek to kick off hostilities in the second half of the double round robin, home-and-away group play of the Fifa World Cup qualifiers in the same fashion they jumpstarted things in the first – with a win against Bahrain.

The fired up Pinoy booters go for an encore of the outstanding performance that led to a stunning 2-1 upset over the Al Ahmar in the June 11 opener over in Bulacan when they visit Bahrain for the return match tonight at 6 p.m. at Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa here (11 p.m. in Manila).

A victory by  the Azkals will give them 10 points and allow them to overtake Uzbekistan, which takes a bye Tuesday. 

“It’s a very important battle for us. They (Bahrain) have a chance to take third place. They wont give up. They will come after us like any game,” said coach Thomas Dooley.

Halfway through hostilities in Group H, the Azkals stand at third spot  with seven points on a 2-1-1 win-draw-loss card behind North Korea’s 10 (3-1-0) and Uzbekistan’s nine (3-0-1).

Phl XI is in high spirits coming off a monumental 0-0 draw with North Korea in front of a 50,000-strong home crowd over in Pyongyang last Thursday.

This famous result – a bounceback from a humiliating 1-5 beatdown from Uzbekistan in Bulacan last month – put the Azkals back in business.

“The confidence of the team is high again as we battle another tough opponent in Bahrain,” said team manager Dan Palami.

In contrast to the Azkals, the Bahrainis have struggled in the first four games, coughing just three points on a solitary win and three setbacks.

“We’ll have a must-win mentality in all our games,” said Bahrain coach Sergio Batista.

The Al Ahmar are dead set on rebounding after surrendering a numbing 0-4 loss to Uzbekistan in home turf last Thursday, a development that greatly dimmed their chances to advance to the next round of the WCQ.

Due to the taxing schedule featuring long trips and back-to-back away games against North Korea and Bahrain inside a five-day period, Dooley didn’t subject his wards to rigid physical training.

It’s more about the mental preparations and recovery now, he stressed.

“We’ve been in Bahrain for a couple of days. Obviously the first training session was easy. They are in a good mood. Everything is on schedule. We just have to prepare mentally for the game on Tuesday,” said Dooley.

“We have less meetings so they can can actually stay in the room or walk around a little bit. Training sessions are less intense a little bit. Just something that’s fun. Let them relax. Just getting the mindset ready for the game. We cannot train a lot anymore. We can talk about the mindset. We just want to get back in shape,” he added.