Azkals vow to work harder after shock loss

MANILA, Philippines - Azkals midfielder Misagh Bahadoran said the stinging 0-1 loss to Yemen should wake up the Pinoy booters and spur them to work extra harder for their next assignments in the Fifa World Cup Qualifier.

“We’re naturally down after the loss but this is football. Your attitude shouldn’t be like this. We’ll have to be back stronger,” said the Fil-Iranian.

The Azkals have virtually gotten the boot in the WCQ with still two games left in their slate, against Uzbekistan and North Korea in March. But Phl XI still needs to gain points as they shoot for a third-place finish in Group H to seal their place in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

“We’ll have three months and for sure we’ll be prepared more because we’ve realized it (short preparation) won’t work at a level like this. We have to work harder, we have to train harder,” he said.

“I also hope the players from overseas can join us much earlier, not like (the) two days (the team had prior to the Yemen game),” he added.

Iain Ramsay expressed belief the team can get back on its feet again after dropping three of its last four matches.

“We just need to regroup. I’m sure with the quality we have in the team and the coaching staff, we can win again. This is all about regaining confidence. Once we get a win again, we get that confidence back like in the first two games of the qualifiers. Once we do that, then the best is yet to come for this team,” the Fil-Australian said.