By ROY MOORE - GMA News
In Thursday night's match against Kuwait, the odds are stacked against the Philippine team, ranked 67 places lower than their opponent in the FIFA World Rankings. The Azkals lost in the first leg of the qualifiers in Kuwait, 3-0.
The three-goal deficit is a mountain to climb, and as the scores of both games are added together to determine the winner on aggregate, to win by the same 3-0 score-line would take the tie into extra time. Should the scores remain the same after 30 minutes of extra time, penalties will decide who continues to the next round.
Winning by four goals, however, would see the Philippines go through to the next round. A win by two goals or less, a draw or a loss to Kuwait would mean Kuwait will qualify for the third round of AFC World Cup Qualification.
Palami hopeful
While it's a tall order for the Philippines to qualify, manager Dan Palami refuses to give up hope, noting that the team has come a long way in a short time.
“We will look to press the game and beat Kuwait. Even if we don’t win by four goals, it would mean we would get the points to climb higher in the FIFA rankings," said Palami.
Keeping things in perspective, any win on Thursday would still be a big upset for a nation ranked 31st in Asia. A victory would represent a huge advance for Philippine football and would send a strong signal to the region, bearing in mind that no team in Southeast Asia is ranked above Kuwait.
With their possession-based passing style, Kuwait will look to counter the high defensive line of the Azkals and play through balls to split the defense.
Borromeo and Schrock back on defense
The Azkals will be boosted by the return of team captain Aly Borromeo and Stephan Schrock who were both suspended from the first leg. With Rob Gier and Borromeo reunited in the center of the defense, the team can push forward to pressure Kuwait - a dangerous tactic given Kuwait’s ability to counter-attack, but a necessary risk given the deficit from the first leg.
Expected to play the same formation to press a lot higher, the team will look to channel the play through James Younghusband and Chieffy Caligdong on the wings who will both be given much more license to attack- a problem in the first leg, as the wingers needed to defend more to limit Kuwait’s chances at home. In front of their home crowd, the Azkals can now press high and pressure Kuwait.
Stephan Schrock also has the ability to pull the strings in the midfield. Though normally a right-sided defender for German Club SpVgg Greuther Fürth in the 2nd Bundesliga, Germany’s second highest league, he has the ability to be a play-maker, creating chances for both Angel Guirado and Phil Younghusband who occupy the attacking positions. Evidenced in his last outing for the Azkals- a man-of-the-match performance against Sri Lanka- Stephan Schrock is the man to watch for this game.
Team transformation
A 3-0 loss against a team like Kuwait was once already considered a moral victory.
With the infusion of talented foreign players with Filipino blood, coupled with greater financial support, the Philippine team has been transformed.
The Azkals could have even taken the lead against Kuwait, with either Phil Younghusband’s one-on-one opportunity, which Kuwaiti goalkeeper al-Khaldi saved brilliantly, or Angel Guirado’s thunderous header which rattled the crossbar from the resulting corner.
Kuwait's 20-year-old Yousef Nasser stole the ball in front of the Azkals’ defense to score in the 17th minute. Phil Younghusband came close to equalizing fifteen minutes later when his shot looked destined for the top corner of the goal, until al-Khaldi got just enough on the ball to tip it onto the crossbar. After two great saves and a stroke of bad luck, the Philippines were three times just inches away from scoring a precious away goal.
Formation
The team is expected to line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation, playing plenty of passes through the middle and to the wings and avoiding the long-ball style which characterizes the domestic league of the Philippines, the UFL.
Having worked extensively on a more fluid system, the team will look to press high up the pitch and the defensive line will look to catch the Kuwaiti players offside rather than lie back and try to tackle and steal the ball to counter-attack. As such, here is the predicted lineup:
Goalkeeper: Etheridge
Center back: Borromeo/Gier
Right back: Del Rosario
Left back: Jonsson
Center midfield: Schrock/Ott
Left midfield: Caligdong
Right midfield: J. Younghusband
Second striker: Guirado
Center forward/ striker: P. Younghusband
12th man: the Kaholeros
The team at home will be boosted not just by players returning from suspension but thousands in the home crowd, including the Azkals' own fanatical cheering squad, the Kaholeros. It's said that the recently converted to a cause are among the most enthusiastic devotees. So it is with the Philippines' football fever.
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