Azkals brace for 'massive match'

By Olmin Leyba (The Philippine Star)

KUWAIT – In two days’ time, his wards are about to face their toughest adversary amid the punishing Gulf heat but Azkals coach Michael Weiss is brimming with confidence.

“I’m quite content (with preparations) and I think the boys are now counting the hours towards the match. And that it will be a massive match, as they say in England, and it will give us an idea where we stand and if we can compete at this level. I’m quite positive,” Weiss said before their morning team meeting yesterday.

The Azkals collide with Kuwait’s Al-Azraq (The Blue) squad Saturday night (early Sunday in Manila) aware of the Everest-like obstacle they have to scale against a team that’s ranked 50 places higher in the football pecking order.

But Weiss, the optimist, feels there is good chances “if we can transfer onto the pitch the game plan we prepared for a full 90 minutes.”

“We have studied the opponent very carefully and I think the players know exactly who they’re dealing with and how we have to prevent the opponent to get into its flow of play. That would be the most crucial point – to be very aggressive and tight and not let them start their game and that is a thing that takes 90 minutes ,” he said.

“As we’ve seen before, small mistakes get punished immediately so they will not allow us to switch off our computer, as I always say, for one second. Whether it’s a set piece, an easy passing mistake or getting back into shape too early or pushing out too late, those small mistakes will be punished. But as for the preparations, I think we’re ready,” he added.

The desert heat in this part of the world, in the vicinity of 45 degrees, is, to say the least zapping, but Weiss claimed his players are adjusting well, aided by their training camp in Bahrain the previous week.

“They don’t worry about the heat because the heat is not an issue, actually. Last night, when we practiced, I found the weather even more pleasant than in Bahrain; our first match in Bahrain last Saturday was in fact, much hotter,” said Weiss, who scheduled practices at 7 p.m. to get accustomed to the Kuwaiti temp at match time.

“If the temperature here will be like that, it will be okay and since we’re playing in a big stadium where air will be air flowing, I think we’ll be fine on Saturday,” he added.

They just have to take lots of fluids, though. Team manager Dan Palami said they are consuming an average of 10 boxes of water per practice getting into the Middle East.