The Philippine Azkals (National Team Thread)

[Hisashi]

Philippine Azkals vs Kuwait Al-Azraq


The last friendly for the middle-east tour game will be against kuwait and it will be a rematch between the two . If we can recall the Azkals fought hard against kuwait in the 2nd round of Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup.

The 2-legged round ended with an agg. of 5-1 . The first leg with 3-0 and the second 2-1 . This time tough the Philippines will be missing the only azkals who scored which is Schrock who struck 45 min stunner outside the box in the second leg of the qualifiers . But the azkals this time will be playing with there top guns , The Younghusband Brothers who missed the match against bahrain which ended in a 0-0 draw.

The Younghusbands will be a great boost for the azkals . James who has good skills in passing and a tireless mid who can also help out in the defense and Phil currently , the most deadliest striker in south-east asia right now .

Also present will be Demetrius Omphroy , who plays right-back will give the defense and the attack a huge boost . Omphroy has amazing dribbling skills , finishing , defense and a wonderful flick , missed the match against bahrain because of his illness.

And last of all Neil Etheridge will also be playing . Etheridge who currently plays for bristol Rovers missed the first match because of club commitments will be the keeper for the azkals this time against Al-Azraq

Other key players who played in bahrain will also be playing namely Paul Maulders , Denis Cagara , Dennis Wolf , Patrick Reichelt , Chiefy Caligdong , Jeffrie Christiens , Jerry Lucena , Bahadoran , Rob Gier , Rollan Muller and a bunch of more great players.

 

[Hisashi]

Previous 5 matches from FIFA.COM


Philippines [rank 147]: W W W W D

Sept 9, 2012
Singapore 0-2 Philippines
FIFA International Friendly

Sept 25, 2012
Philippines 1-0 Guam
Philippine Football Peace Cup

Sept 27, 2012
Philippines 5-0 Macau
Philippine Football Peace Cup

Sept 29, 2012
Philippines 3-1 Chinese Taipei
Philippine Football Peace Cup

Oct 10, 2012
Bahrain 0-0 Philippines
FIFA International Friendly



Kuwait [rank 112 ] : L L W L L

Feb 29, 2012
Korea Republic 2-0 Kuwait
AFC 2014 World Cup Qualifiers, Rd 3

Jun 22, 2012
Saudi Arabia 4-0 Kuwait
Arab Nations Cup

Jun 25, 2012
Kuwait 2-0 Palestine
Arab Nations Cup

Jul 9, 2012
Uzbekistan 3-0 Kuwait
FIFA International Friendly

Sept 11, 2012
United Arab Emirates 3-0 Kuwait
FIFA International Friendly

 

[Hisashi]

Full time final score 2-1 , The Al-azraq wins against the Azkals .


There were lot of chances made by each team . The al-azraq first had a chance when they sended a wonderful through ball , There numb. 3 midfielder tried to curl it against neil but thats not gonna work on neil . Another was given to the al-azraq when they were given there first penalty but again the underestimated neil so neil easily saved it . While the azkals first made there impression on the 40 min. when a through ball was succesfuly made and Phil had a piece of but it just sailed over the bar .

The Al-Azraq scored first at the 35 min. on a overlapped run by one of their mids numb 17 to be exact but instead of passing it to the center the he shot a power shot straight to keeper and well Neil just could"nt do anything about it anymore , The azkals appealed for a offside but none was given. The second goal was made by the azkals after a handball was called in the box after it one fo there defenders blocked a long shot from cagara , Phil took it and kicked it on the bottom corner the keeper guessed it right but the shot was too powerful for him to stop . The last goal was scored via a contoversial penalty which was clearly not even a foul so the ref was a total biased bastard .

Overall the Al-Azraq played really well compared to Bahrain they had good team chemistry and they had a very fast pace and there players got quiet an engine . The Azkals on the other side played above expectations . I expected them to play more of a defensive football but instead they went there and play real football . A few more improvements on the passing maybe they should utilize the one-two passing and the through balls more often and a little more quality players and the azkals will truly become a contender in asia .

The Azkals have been generating good results and they"re getting more exposure because they have been playing against top quality teams in asia . If they play more top teams in asia regularly and also play against a european country they will improve alot faster .

Next Friendly will be against Singapore and by the way the azkals are playing right now I wont be suprised if we get a 3-0 win or even 5-0 . The game will be played here in Panaad Stadium somewhere November 13 or 16 and after that will be the AFF Suzuki Cup where they will be playing vietnam first and then thailand in there groupstages .

 

[Hisashi]

Well today the azkals release there 35 man line up for the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup this November.

Locally-based players chosen by coach Hans Michael Weiss to represent the Azkals were Marwin and Marvin Angeles, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Juani Guirado, Carli de Murga, Demit Omphroy, Patrick Reichelt, Matthew Uy and Denis Wolf of Global FC , Anto Gonzales, Ref Cuaresma, Mark Hartmann and Phil and James Younghusband of the Loyola Meralco Sparks , Lexton Moy, Jason Sabio and OJ Porteria of Kaya FC , Ian Araneta and Chieffy Caligdong of Philippine Air Force FC , Nestorio Margarse, Jr. and Eduardo Sacapaño of Philippine Army FC , Jason De Jong of Penson Stallion Giligan’s and Under-23 squad member Joshua Beloya.

Also picked are Azkals members who play abroad , such as Fil-British Neil Etheridge, Rob Gier, Chris Greatwich; Fil-Germans Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott and Roland Mueller; Fil-Danish Dennis Cagara and Jerry Lucena; Fil-Spanish Angel Guirado, Fil-Icelandic Ray Jonsson, and Fil-Dutch Paul Mulders.

The list will still be cut down to 22 players on November 23, a day before the start of the cup . Only 20 of them will be selected for the squad which will be determined an hour before the match.

The Azkals will face Thailand on November 24, Vietnam on November 27 and Myanmar on November 30 in the group stages of the Suzuki Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. They need to finish in the top two of their bracket to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

 

[Mandieta6]

Right, I'm gonna go ahead and make this into a team thread. I appreciate the effort and would like to see you keep updating this as wella s contributing in other threads, but as yoyo pointed out, it's more of an NT thread than a blog.

 

[Hisashi]

The Azkals have released their squad list for Thursday's friendly against the Singapore Lions in Cebu. Their last prior to the 2012 Suzuki Cup.

Included on the list are the following players:

Angeles, Marvin, Janwer
Angeles, Marwin Janver
Araneta, Ian Bayona
Bahadoran, Misagh Medina
Beloya, Joshua
Caligdong, Emelio Asada
Christiaens, Jeffrey Mallen
De Jong, Jason Nicolas Maria Dantes
Gener, Roel Jimena
Gier, Robert James Dazo
Gonzales, Andres Crisanto Santos
Greatwich, Christopher Robert Barbon
Guirado, Juan Luis Aldeguer
Jonsson, Ray Anthony Pepito
Margarse, Nestorio Jr. Braga
Martinez De Murga, Carlos Alberto Olaivar
Omphroy, Demitrius Irving Tolentino
Pascual, Jose Paolo
Reichelt, Patrick Alcala
Sabio, Jason Abbott
Sacapano, Eduard Ortalla
Uy, Matthew Christopher Celano
Wolf, Denis Santos
Younghusband, James Joseph Placer
Younghusband, Philip James Placer


Recently, the Philippines rose to second place in South East Asia, and are now ranked 143rd in the world just 5 spots away from vietnam based on FIFA's computations , their best-ever placing.

In the Suzuki Cup, the Philippines will face Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar on to the 3rd week of November.

 

[Hisashi]

Live Stream : http://www.goodfilipino.com/2012/11...pore-live-streaming-november-15-thursday.html

 

[Hisashi]

FT PHI 1-0 SIN

Possesion : 49% - 51%
Attempts : 9 - 19
On Target : 6 - 13
Yellow Cards : 2 - 1

 

[Keegan]

...and you know what somewhere out there , A tree is tirelessly producing oxygen so you can breathe and i think you owe it an apology.

Zing!

 

[Mandieta6]

Haha, Keegan, you definitely deserve the Nicest Member award simply for having read this thread.

 

[Hisashi]

someone please delete this thread?

 

[Mandieta6]

Why?

 

[Sir Calumn]

Hell no, this thread is magnificent.

 

[Sir Calumn]

Azkals lose Etheridge to Fulham recall

The good and bad news came quick Wednesday for the Philippines vying in the AFF Suzuki Cup.

The availability of Neil Etheridge for the biennial tournament remains up in the air after a stunning turn of events yesterday left the Filipino-British keeper stranded in London—back with his mother club, Fulham.

Released for national team duty by Bristol Rovers, where he is currently on loan, Etheridge’s plans to suit up for the Azkals in the prestigious tournament hit another snag as he was recalled by the English Premier League club, which will loan out its second choice-keeper David Stockdale to Hull City.

“I can’t go because Fulham recalled me to be No. 2,” said the 22-year-old Etheridge, whose superb performance in the tournament two years ago was one of the keys to the Azkals’ historic semifinal appearance.

“It’s now impossible for me to come.”

Clubs are not inclined to release players because the Suzuki Cup doesn’t fall on an international date.

Azkals manager Shifty Palami is now doubling efforts to gain the release of Roland Muller from German second-division club Duisburg.

Without Etheridge or Muller, the 32-year-old Sacapano, who was impressive in the 1-0 win over Singapore last Thursday in Cebu, could start against Thailand. The Bago City-born goalkeeper has the backing of Etheridge.

“It’s good to see him having his time although others see him as a backup,” Etheridge said of Sacapano, who saved a penalty kick against Singapore.

 

[Hisashi]

Azkals are in the semis hope Schrock can play in the semis so as neil you guys no schrock?

 

[Hisashi]

Now there aint that much stadiums for the azkals to play at but that will changed in 2014 as INC will build a world class stadium they hope to finish on early 2014

 

[Ji_Boaz]

Amazing Thread. I am from the Philippines as well and I too hope to see the Azkals further progress as a national team. Can't wait for the AFC Challenge Cup

 

[Hisashi]

Me too cant wait

hehe I am sure we will get a good result on the challenge cup . I cant still remember when we trashed cambodia 8-0 in the qualifiers

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Ahead of the Challenge Cup Qualifiers against Brunei, Cambodia, and Turkmenistan starting in under a week’s time, the Philippine National Football Team has released their 23-man line-up for the three games.

Via the official Azkals website, the list sees few surprises as ten Pinoys playing in Europe come in to swell the ranks of the UFL-based players.

Ian Araneta has been dropped in place of 17-year-old OJ Porteria, after his dazzling displays for Kaya, while Coach Weiss will have the headache of selecting between Roland Muller and Neil Etheridge in goal, with Etheridge banned for the first game for shouting profanities, while on the bench during the 4-3 victory over Palestine, in the battle for third place last year, but he will be available for the other two matches.

Here’s the 23-man line-up for the qualifiers:

Goalkeepers
Neil Etheridge
Roland Muller
Ed Sacapano

Defenders
Dennis Cagara
Rob Gier
Juan Luis Guirado
Carli De Murga
Jerry Lucena

Midfielders
Marwin Angeles
Misagh Bahadoran
Chieffy Caligdong
Jeffrey Christiaens
Jason De Jong
Chris Greatwich
Angel Guirado
Paul Mulders
Patrick Reichelt
Stephan Schrock
Matthew Uy
James Younghusband

Forwards
Javier Patino
OJ Porteria
Phil Younghusband


The Azkals’ pattern

There is also the question of what formation the team will employ, whether the 4-5-1 formation that Weiss has used in the Suzuki Cup will be retained, if he’ll opt for a more offensive formation, partnering Phil Younghusband and Javier Patino together, or even pushing the wingers higher up the pitch in a 4-2-3-1.

Weiss has talked of being more offensive in these games, as the Azkals have built up a defensive pattern of late. Playing well defensively, the Philippines has kept five clean sheets in their last seven games, but this has also come at the cost of goals as they have scored just six in those seven.

For the last nine games also, the Philippines has never even scored in the opening 45-minutes, and so have never won a first half. After the break however, the Azkals are unbeaten in that second 45-minute period, even against Thailand, when they were 2-0 down at halftime, with a Paul Mulders’ goal as consolation in a 2-1 loss in the group stage of the Suzuki Cup.

Against weaker opposition in Cambodia and Brunei however, that pattern will have to change as the Philippines looks to win big against South East Asian opposition to rack up the all-important goal difference. Scoring in the first half will be crucial to that confidence and building a good goal difference ahead of that final grudge match with Turkmenistan, the side which knocked them out of the 2012 Challenge Cup semifinals, with two late goals reversing a Phil Younghusband opener.


Starting line-up

With most positions nailed down, according to Mike Limpag, who spoke to manager Shifty Palami, the last remaining piece of the puzzle is at left midfield, a position Chieffy Caligdong held until recent performances from the bench.

Angel Guirado looks the frontrunner at left wing and will probably start, despite not playing competitive football since his contract with Indian side Salgaoar SC was terminated. However Jeffrey Christiaens has been lighting up the UFL from the left, contributing to Global’s winning start with four goals and many assists in six games, in performances which deserve an opportunity, especially against Brunei or Cambodia.

So Angel Guirado may be the favorite to start at left wing, and Phil Younghusband will likely be partnered with Javier Patino in a 4-4-2 formation with Jerry Lucena falling back to central defense in place of Juani Guriado.