Football fever reaches climax

Source |
mb.com.ph
Game Wednesday
(Panaad Park and Stadium, Bacolod City)
7 p.m. — Philippine Azkals vs Mongolia

BACOLOD CITY — It’s not a World Cup game by any standard, but the Philippine Azkals are treating their match against the Mongolians as though it is like one.

Team manager Dan Palami said “it would be almost disastrous if we lose.” German coach Hans Michael Weiss said “a 1-0 win will not entertain the fans.” And star striker Phil Younghusband said the “home crowd will spell the difference.”

Hoping to provide more inspiration to a nation starting to rekindle its love affair with football, the Azkals are hoping to score a convincing victory when they battle little-known Mongolia tonight at the start of their AFC Challenge Cup series before an expected massive crowd at the Panaad Stadium here.

“We’re very confident of a good result in front of our home fans and we want to entertain them as well as win,” Younghusband said Tuesday.

The Azkals take the Mongolians at 7 p.m. with hopes of sustaining the nearly fairy tale journey that started with their historic semifinal finish in the Suzuki Cup two months ago.

There’s so much excitement and enthusiasm about this match that game tickets were virtually sold out even before they were printed as hordes of fans from Manila flew here to root for the team, injecting new life to a sport the country seemed to have forgotten.

A full media coverage is also expected with giant TV network ABS-CBN beaming the game live over Studio 23 and its cable channels.

A mammoth crowd, which will be wearing white as sign of support for the local bets, is expected to fill the 15,500-seater venue as football fever reached its peak in the City of Smiles. The throng, however, will miss President Aquino, who begged off from attending due to other pressing matters. The President turned 51 yesterday.

“I cannot imagine a loss to Mongolia,” Palami said. “I think that with the preparations I've seen in Manila and the time we had here, we will make an exciting game and we will make sure that we will make the Filipinos proud of their Azkals.”

A second match is scheduled on March 15 at the Ulan Bator National Stadium. The winner will join Myanmar, Bangladesh and Palestine in the group stage set March 20-31.

Although ranked lower than the Azkals in the FIFA rankings, Mongolia, which reportedly trained in Guangzhou, China to acclimatize with the Philippine weather, won’t be an easy prey.

Inactive for nearly two years, the Mongolians provide no clues of how they play, forcing the Azkals coaches to say they will just rely on their instincts and try to adjust to whatever they bring to the table.

When the young-looking and taller Mongolians arrived on Monday, hardly anyone can speak English, making it more difficult to unravel the team, whose record of futility included a 1-0 loss to Guam, one of the weakest teams in the world.

Azkals assistant coach Edzel Bracamonte said they intend to use a 4-4-2 formation in the match – the same set they used in the Suzuki Cup – as they aim to abide by coach Weiss’ philosophy of aggressive play.

“We don’t know much about Mongolia which sometimes makes it difficult because we don’t know what to expect. But we will be more aggressive and more attack-minded,” said Younghusband, who scored the second goal when they stunned defending champion Vietnam, 2-0, in the Suzuki Cup.

Aside from the home crowd edge, another thing going for the Azkals is the familiarity with the pitch as Mongolia managed to test the ground only yesterday. In stark contrast, the Azkals have been training here for nearly two weeks.

The starting line up was expected to be named late yesterday after team officials announced the composition of the 23-man line up the other night.

Starting Monday night, after the Azkals’ scrimmage where Group A, led by Younghusband defeated Group B, 4-0, the players were kept from the fans to enable them to focus on the match ahead.

The Philippine Football Federation and the Philippine Sports Commission have reportedly spent P6 million to renovate the locker rooms and provide lighting that will meet the international standard.

“We could be hosting one of the biggest crowds in history,” PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said.

The Azkals will rely on the Younghusbands, including James and Ian Araneta, who is always a threat, and Ray Jonnson, Rob Gier, Anton del Rosario, Roel Gener, Jason de Jong, Aly Borromeo and Neail Etheridge.