Azkals yield five goals against top German club in Darmstadt

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO - Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine football team preparing for FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Sri Lanka wrapped up its two-week Germany camp on a sour note, bowing to SV Darmstadt 98, 0-5, in Darmstadt, Hesse on Saturday.

The German side, known as Lilies, proved too much for the Azkals, reducing the Filipinos to mere spectators by taking a commanding 4-0 lead at halftime.

The Azkals fell three goals down after just 25 minutes as the floodgates opened early when Marcus Steegman caught goalie Neil Etheridge flatfooted in the eighth minute for the squad ranked No. 1 in the Regionalliga last season.

Oliver Heil then doubled the lead in the 12th with a smashing finish before Nigerian Henry Onuwzuruike struck his own just two minutes later.

Pouncing on the Azkals’ defensive breakdown, Markus Brüdigam made it 4-0 with a hit in 24th before Christopher Huebner put the game beyond doubt with a goal early in the second half of the match witnessed by a crowd of 500 who are mostly Filipinos.

It was the Azkals’ worst defeat in four friendly matches following their 0-4 setback of an experienced Ingolstadt side, a second division team playing in Bundesliga.

They crushed their first two rivals Duren selection and Bonner SC Under-19 on similar 4-1 score lines, but could not sustain their fiery form when ranged against teams beefed up by World Cup veterans.

The team leaves for Colombo Sunday, three days before battling a Sri Lankan side which promised to give the Filipinos a “torrid time” at the 25,000-seater Sugathadasa Stadium.

Azkals ace striker Phil Younghusband remains optimistic despite the loss.

“We learned we need to be more organized with set pieces,” Younghusband said. “We are all looking at the positives and looking where we can improve so that in the next games, we don’t make the same mistakes.”

Skipper Aly Borromeo agreed.

“Lesson learned... This could be the motivation we need,” he said on his Twitter account.

Meanwhile, Bonnie Ladrido, chair of the organizing committee for the July 3 return match between the Azkals and Sri Lanka at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, said the sale of extra 700 bleachers tickets will start on Tuesday.

Although the game tickets, including the P2,000 and P3,000 grandstand are already 95 percent sold out, Ladrido said they will release 700 more which will come from the allotted 1,000 tickets for the Football Federation of Sri
Lanka, which only sought for 300 tickets.