Azkals to take it easy against host Vietnam

Matches tonight (My Dinh Stadium)

8 p.m. – Vietnam vs Philippines

(Hang Day Stadium)

8 p.m. – Indonesia vs Laos

HANOI – With a lock on a semifinal seat, the Philippine Azkals venture into tonight’s duel with host Vietnam “relaxed” but still determined to emerge victorious and top Group A of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 before an expected hostile crowd at My Dinh National Stadium.

“Obviously we’re in a good situation so we don’t have to stress ourselves about not going to the semifinal. Whatever happens, we’re in and we have two more games so this gives us the good feeling about resting, about concentrating on the things that we need to get done,” said Azkals coach Thomas Dooley a day before the 7 p.m. (8 p.m.) match.

The Azkals had secured the first berth with an impressive 4-0 spanking of long-time nemesis Indonesia, following up their earlier 4-1 disposal of Laos. The Vietnamese, who drew with Indonesia and prevailed over Laos for four points, look to grab the other Last-Four spot and possibly steal No. 1 from the Pinoy booters.

 “There’s no pressure for us. The only pressure perhaps is we want to finish in first place (in the group) to get a little advantage in the semifinal. We don’t have to lose the game but we don’t want to play for a tie – obviously we want to win every game. And we can start playing our game without pressure and it’s good,” he added.

If the Azkals beat Vietnam for the third straight tournament or at least battle them to  a draw, they rule Group A and will face the No.2 semifinalist from Group B. The first leg of the semis will be an away match on Dec. 6, with the return leg slated five days later in Manila.

If the Vietnamese prevail, they advance as No. 1 and relegate the Pinoys to No. 2 in Group A. In this scenario, the Azkals will host the first leg of the semis against the ruler of Group B – likely heavy favorites Thailand – on Dec. 7 and will try to win on the road on Dec. 10.

“Make no mistake, we wanna top the group so we don’t get a tougher draw in the next round. We also  want to have homefield advantage in the second leg as well as in the second round so we won’t take a foot off the pedal. We’ll be going for the win for sure,“ said captain Rob Gier.

The Azkals are coming off what many considered their best game and Dooley expressed belief his wards can even top that performance off.

“You can always play better. Tiger Woods, in his best times, was told he was playing perfectly and he’d say, ‘I’m far from perfect.’ So we are far away from perfect, too. You can see that our positioning when we played the ball around the box is not good so we put ourselves under pressure. There are a lot of things we can always improve on,” said Dooley.

The Azkals  will miss centerback Juani Guirado (pulled hamstring) and midfielder Patrick Reichelt (knee) and Dooley is also contemplating giving some of the key players some rest.

Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura said he’s quite impressed with how the Filipinos played.

“They are physically strong and recently have been stronger than Vietnam,” he said.

Dooley expects a “very, very difficult” game.

“They’re very good, very organized, they put pressure right away if they can’t get the ball, they drop back and play typical 4-4-2 system like a Japanese organized company” he said of their rivals.

Notes: Twenty-year-old Manny Ott is having a blast while getting his baptism of fire in a major tournament with the Philippine Azkals. Ott, who missed the cut in previous meets like the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup and the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup and only got to see action in the qualifiers and in the U-23 Southeast Asian Games, blends perfectly with veteran Jerry Lucena in organizing things at midfield, leading to two straight wins in Group A. He even scored a sublime volley in the Azkals’ semis-clinching 4-0 win over Indonesia last Tuesday.“It’s my first real big tournament and I’m really enjoying it – the media exposure, the size of the people watching, and the replays of the games on TV,” said the Ceres stalwart. Asked what the secret to his heads-up play of late, Ott said: “I just enjoy the game, have fun and try to work hard as I can. I always give my 100 percent and it’s paying off.”