Azkals go all out to top AFF group stage

HANOI – On top of the table in Group A of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup after Saturday’s opening matches, the Philippine Azkals will do their best to make the most of the opportunity to book an early seat in the semis when they report to action in Day 2 of group action tomorrow against Indonesia.

The Azkals battled back from a 0-1 deficit  to beat Laos, 4-1, then assumed the solo lead at the end of the day as host Vietnam and Indonesia fought to a 2-2 draw in the other game.

“If we win the next game, then we’re through to the semis,” said team manager Dan Palami.

“This is actually the best start we’ve had so far in the three editions that the Philippines has been able to go to the final group stages so I hope we could sustain the momentum,” he added.

Although they managed to reach the Final Four of the 2010 and 2012 editions of the region’s premier tourney, the Pinoy booters couldn’t win their initial assignments back then.

Four years ago, Azkals drew with Singapore, 1-1, but rebounded with a monumental 2-0 upset of home side Vietnam and a 0-0 draw with Myanmar to advance. In 2012, the Azkals lost to host Thailand, 1-2, but beat Vietnam, 1-0, and Myanmar, 2-0, to qualify again for the semis.

“If we win against Indonesia in our next game, that eases off a lot of pressure on the team and maybe we’ll be able to rest key players in the last game (against Vietnam),” said Palami.

“Of course we want to get nine points here and establish ourselves as a true contender in this tournament. I’m listening to the analysts of the different sports TV networks and they didn’t give us a chance to even qualify for the semis. I hope we prove them wrong,” he added.

The Azkals found themselves trailing against the Laotians 21 minutes into the match but didn’t panic and racked up four goals the rest of the way to get the result they wanted.

“Somehow we actually showed our composure after we got back from that one-goal difference. I’m happy we remained focused on what we had to do,” said Palami.

Azkals coach Thomas Dooley expressed satisfaction with his wards’ showing, especially in an opening game where jitters were pretty much expected.

“I liked the way they scored goals, worked hard and passed the balls,” said Dooley.

However, he admitted the need to address a couple of issues, too.

“Sometimes we make easy fouls when we shouldn’t. We should have stayed behind the player and let him make a mistake...We were a little bit too aggressive especially in front of our goal,” said Dooley, whose wards conceded a free kick off a foul that Laos converted for the opening goal.

“The other thing is, like those headers we had in the first half. We’re just going up trying to win the header. But when you go up, you need to look: ‘look, where’s my player?’ Maybe I can put the ball right by where my player is. We lost a lot of head balls without any pressure and gave it right away to the opponent. That’s something we have to be focused on. Otherwise, I’m pretty happy,” he said.