The road ahead for the Azkals

source: gmanetwork.com

Apparently the world ends this year. In the meantime, here’s the second part of a two-part series looking at the year that changed Philippine football and the New Year ahead.

The last year was mostly spent in qualifiers: two rounds of qualifying for the Challenge Cup, two rounds of qualifying for the World Cup and qualifying for TV coverage. The team made it to the finals of the Challenge Cup, went out in the Second Round of the World Cup Qualifiers against Kuwait and now has automatic qualification for TV coverage as networks battle for the rights to show Azkals games.

So after the summary of 2011 and the year that revived Philippine football, we look at 2012 and how the Azkals will be building on one of its most successful years ever.

January: Dili Kamo Nag-iisa

While the world will probably not end this year, there are certainly many real problems people face. Typhoon Sendong has caused a lot of destruction and with over a thousand killed and over a thousand more missing there are a lot of families waiting for bad news.

Sometimes, football can transcend, if not break down, certain barriers. The tensions in Mindanao can be placed to one side as unity to resolve bigger problems comes first. In that spirit, the Azkals present Dili Kamo Nag-iisa, a charity game between Internacional de Madrid, a fourth division club in Spain, and the Azkals Alyansa, a team of regular Azkals and several UFL stars.

In the vein of unity, the mix of Tagalog and Visayan in the title aims to show unity between the regions and translate the spirit of the football anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ into Philippine football. Made famous by Liverpool FC, the song embodies the idea that no matter what happens you won’t be alone and we’re stronger together.

With early January being an important time in many clubs’ seasons, it’s impressive Inter de Madrid would take the time to travel to the other side of the world. Fittingly, then, the gate receipts and other revenues will be donated to the Philippine National Red Cross to help those suffering.

This game may also be the last Azkals outing for veterans Roel Gener and Edmundo Mercado who at 36 and 37 inherited the title of Lolos of the team after last year’s retirement of Air Force stalwart Yanti Barsales.

Prediction: A draw between the teams but no-one loses when the revenue goes to help those in need

February: Friendly with Malaysia and an U21 tournament in Brunei

Early February will see several matches in the gulf region as preparation for the coming months. Following these games, the U21 Azkals will be formed to compete in the Hassanal Boliah Trophy, a competition between the U21 sides of South East Asian countries. Manager Dan Palami has already considered this to be the starting point for the 2013 SEA Games.

Reportedly, Malaysia will be sending their U19 team so they can gain more experience as they play back to back tournaments, being fresh from a separate tournament in Singapore just before. The Philippines U21s, though, will largely be made from the younger players of the U23 SEA Games team, as the average age of the Philippines’ squad for the tournament was 20.9 years old, as worked out by football fan Cy Baltazar.

Manager Dan Palami has publicly stated his desire for the team to compete regularly and this will be the opportunity to train and gain competitive experience ahead of next year’s SEA Games. The whole tournament will be a bit of an experiment, however, as what used to be a regular fixture hasn’t been played the last two years with the hosts, Brunei, having been banned from FIFA for financial “government interference”. Recently reinstated, the youth tournament restarts and will help kick start their preparation for the major tournaments.

The squad will include the likes of Joshua Beloya, who scored two late goals to give the Philippines a 3-2 win over Laos, OJ Clariño, Paolo Pascual, Jinggoy Valmayor, and Reymark Fernandez among other up and coming players who will be given the chance to play together in their more natural positions.

Mark Hartmann will be uncertain given controversy in previous competitions while Manny Ott, Jacques Van Bossche, Jeffrey Christiaens, Patrick Hinrichsen and Jason De Jong’s involvement depends on club commitments and flights to Brunei. Brunei, however, have offered that as hosts they will pay for food, accommodation and transportation costs which certainly help those chances.

The tournament itself is in the same format as the Suzuki Cup and the SEA Games, two groups with the top two qualifying for the Semi Final. This will be a new experience for the U21 team that will be formed for this tournament as it may lead to a few issues in teamwork and cohesion. But as a friendly tournament, this is the right place to test those before major competitions. Given these elements, and that this tournament itself is considered as merely practice for the SEA Games in 2013, a great result for the team would be to qualify for the Semi Finals and exercise the ghosts of the SEA Games. This will certainly be the goal but a strong performance in the group stage is needed.

Prediction: 3rd place in the group stage and something to build on for future competitions

Malaysia U19s will be in Brunei, but the Malaysian senior side will be heading to the Philippines for a friendly game on February 29. The reigning Suzuki Cup champions will provide a good test for the Philippines, something which may be a good indicator of the team’s chances in the Suzuki Cup later this year.

Malaysia (148) are a strong side and are currently ranked eleven places higher than the Philippines (159) in FIFA rankings and 27 places higher in ELO ratings. Playing against tougher opposition always helps to improve a team, though, and the game should be a good spectacle as both sides have a strong attack but tend to concede a lot of goals. Malaysia conceded 18 goals in their last six official outings. What’s important from this game, then, is the chance to test the Azkals’ defense and shore that up before playing against even tougher teams in the Challenge Cup Finals.

Prediction: A closely fought win for Malaysia with both sides scoring

March: 2012 AFC Challenge Cup

Qualifying for the final stage of the Challenge Cup was no easy feat. The Philippines had to go through a knockout round before the group stage. It was also the only team who qualified from the knockout round to also qualify from the group stage.

This has landed the Philippines, somewhat unfortunately, in a group with all the previous three winners of the tournament, North Korea (110), Tajikistan (139) and India (162). And while India is ranked below the Philippines, they are on a four match win streak, scoring at least three in each game and conceding only one in total. India, Malaysia’s most recent international opponent, also beat the Suzuki Cup Champions 3-2 in a friendly.

North Korea remains an unpredictable force, especially after the death of their Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. However, the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers will most likely win all three of their games. Having already beaten Tajikistan in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers and Japan 1-0, they have certainly given a good account of themselves. With their final game of the Qualifiers against Tajikistan in February, this will set the tone for the Challenge Cup games the month after.

Despite FIFA rankings, India’s form suggests they are the favorites to take the second qualifying spot for the Semi Finals ahead of Tajikistan. The Philippines’ last games against both sides ended in a draw, 1-1 with India and 0-0 with Tajikistan. However, these were back in 2006 and 2008 respectively and seeing the same results again can be considered as a strong showing.

The Philippines may well be expected to finish at the bottom of the group. Anything else will count as an upset. The team has the ability to upset teams, though, and given the close proximity of games and Managerial promises of longer times training together, the old problems of cohesion and teamwork should be less noticeable. This competition should be valuable experience against quality opposition.

Prediction: Third in the group with either two draws or a win (most likely against Tajikistan)

The UFL

As Philippine football continues to make strides, the domestic league keeps improving. Now with full TV coverage, the league has expanded to ten teams in Division 1 and twelve teams in Division 2. With more pitches available and increasing professionalism in this very young league, 2012 will likely be both the greatest test and the greatest success of the UFL to date. Watch out for more updates and analysis of the UFL season as it comes closer to its official opening.

Prediction: Loyola, Air Force and Global will make up the top three

December: 2012 Suzuki Cup

To cap off the year, 2012 will see the return of the biennial Suzuki Cup tournament which kick-started the rise of the Azkals last time around. The Philippines are, of course, most famous for their 2-0 victory over Vietnam, but less well known is that the top six teams in South East Asia automatically qualify for this tournament. Meanwhile, the other nations battle it out for the remaining two slots, including the come-backing Brunei. In 2010, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar qualified automatically for the tournament while Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor Leste played a round robin with the top two nations advancing to join the top six.

With Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines all beating Timor Leste then drawing with each other, the top two teams were decided by goal difference, basically who beat Timor Leste by the most goals. Laos topped the group with the Philippines in second before that infamous run in 2010.

This time around, however, the Philippines have been ranked as the sixth seed, climbing above Myanmar and qualifying automatically for the 2012 Suzuki Cup. The Philippines replacing Myanmar is significant considering that the five countries above the Philippines are ranked much higher and all stand a very good chance of winning the competition. Malaysia (148) are the current titleholders, Vietnam (99) the champions in 2008 and Singapore (145) and Thailand (122) vie for the most successful team having won three titles each. Indonesia (142), meanwhile, has reached half of the finals in the competition’s history, but went on to lose all four.
To break into this group, therefore, reflects a symbolic shift. The Philippines are now amongst the heavyweights in South East Asia. With continued progress come accolades further afield, though the qualifying matches scheduled for October would perhaps have provided the team some good practice before the main tournament.

Given that reaching the Semi Finals last time around was such a shock, so much so it was the 10th top football story of Sports illustrated for the year, to reach the Semi Finals again would still count as an upset. With Laos and Myanmar likely to qualify for the main tournament this year, the Philippines will be looking to pick up a victory against whichever of the two they’re drawn with and then win one of their two remaining games to qualify.

If the Philippines play Myanmar, it could be tricky, given the last result between the two countries was a 1-1 draw in Myanmar. Quite possible, however, is a repeat of 2010’s success, which with five points, was equaled in the Challenge Cup Qualifiers and the Long Teng Cup, as Azkals seem fond of one win and two draws. Finishing third in their group is the expected result but the team certainly has the ability to pull off a shock or two against any team in the competition. And with good preparation throughout, back to back Semi Finals in the Suzuki Cup is an achievable dream.

source: gmanetwork.com