MANILA, Philippines — The Last Dance has been unreachable and powerhouse Thailand uncrackable so far, even for the legendary batch that made stellar runs in the 2010s.
But now the gritty young guns of the Philippine men’s football team get their shot at breaking new ground as they carry the fight in the Asean Championship-Mitsubishi Electric Cup KO stages.
The Albert Capellas-coached booters take the first step in a crucial semifinal opening leg at the Rizal Memorial Stadium tonight against the three-peat-seeking War Elephants.
“We will attack this game, play this game with the real belief we can beat Thailand and offer a good show to all the (home) fans,” said an upbeat Capellas.
It’s a daunting task versus the Thais, the tournament’s most bemedalled squad with seven triumphs and whom the Filipinos haven’t beaten since winning their first three encounters from 1971 to 1972. Since then, the best results achieved were a 0-0 draw in Leg 1 of the Final Four of the 2014 Asean meet and a 1-1 tie in the group stage of the 2018 edition with a team led by Phil Younghusband – against 19 losses.
But the current crop is ready to face the Thais head on and gun for the elusive victory to gain the edge heading into the return leg set Monday over in Bangkok.
“This is what we live for – play against good teams – and hopefully we can get the win in the first leg and in the second leg also,” said Bjorn Kristensen, goal-scorer in the Philippines’ semis-clinching 1-0 win over Indonesia in Surakarta at the end of Group B action.
Capellas’ charges will have to do it without three veterans.
Goalkeeper Patrick Deyto is sidelined by a leg injury while midfielder Patrick Reichelt retired from national team duties after the group stage and defender Amani Aguinaldo is serving his suspension tonight for accumulated yellow cards.