HANOI – The Philippine Azkals hope to play before a throng of supporters in the upcoming semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 either at the new 25,000-seater Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, or at the old Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.
There’s no final decision yet on the site of the home game but the Azkals are thrilled at the prospect of doing their stuff in front of over 20,000 fans at the Philippine Stadium, which should be ready for the tourney’s semis slated first and second week of December.
“I think playing in the new Philippine Stadium would be a great experience, especially if the fans will go there. It’s been a while since we’ve seen 20,000 fans together cheering for us. I think the biggest crowd we’ve ever played in was in the Gulf region where we’ve seen about 16,000 Filipinos watching the game,” said team manager Dan Palami.
“Rizal has about 12,000 seats but if we can fill up the Philippine Stadium, that would be a nice atmosphere,” he added
The Philippine Football Federation and representatives from the World Sport Group he said, have already inspected the Bocaue site.
“I think the pitch is ready. They already did an inspection,” said Palami.
The main issue about Philippine Stadium is accessibility but Palami said if they can arrange for free buses from Balintawak Station of LRT to Bocaue, then it would allow fans to go to the venue without hassle.
“In so far as allowing more fans to watch the game, then we go for the Philippine Stadium,” he said.
Palami also said he preferred the natural grass at Philippine Stadium over the artificial turf of Rizal, saying the former is more suited to the Azkals’ play.
“If we look at the two games we played (in the group stage) so far, I think we have a very good game on grass so I feel that maybe the best pitch for us,” said Palami.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Azkals dished out what many considered their best game since their breakout performance in 2010.
For a good 90 minutes, the Azkals imposed their will against nemesis Indonesia, passing with pinpoint precision, creating numerous scoring chances and making good on them, and keeping the Indons’ strikers at bay with solid defending to hammer out a vengeful 4-0 crushing Tuesday night.
That not only paved the way for Phl’s first victory over the Indons in 80 long years but also sent the Pinoy booters into the semis of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 here with a match to spare in group action.
“Sometimes it makes us ask: Were we really that good or were they just that bad? But then if you look at how we played the ball, the possession with 81 percent accuracy based on stats on passing, I think that was the best game I’ve seen the Azkals play ever since I took over management in 2010,” said team manager Dan Palami.
“First few minutes was a little tentative but when I saw that we were actually passing the ball quite well, we were always threatening when we had the ball, everybody was working so hard both on offense and defense, I was convinced that was our best game,” he added.
With everyone clicking and doing his role, the Azkals to pick up their second straight win in Group A and advanced regardless of the outcome of their next match against host Vietnam on Friday.
“Everyone was outstanding,” said coach Thomas Dooley, whose wards are enjoying their best ever start in the biennial Suzuki Cup. “This is what winners are made of – just fighting for each other, playing with each other, never panicking and just controlling the game. That’s what we did from beginning to the end.”
Captain Rob Gier, who subbed for the injured Juani Guirado, said the performance ranks high in the company of the so-called “Miracle of Hanoi” in 2010, when the then unheralded Azkals shocked favorites Vietnam, 2-0, en route to gatecrashing the semis.
“It’s gotta be up there with impressive performances especially with the caliber of the opponent we played. I thought it was our good play that made them look less than they normally do,” he said.
“For me, it’s certainly not the best because I think it’s gonna take a lot to beat the Miracle of Hanoi four years ago and the circumstances surrounding that but this is another big performance,” he added.
Vietnam will be raring to get back at the Azkals in Friday’s matchup, especially with the hosts needing a win to advance. The Vietnamese had four points after beating Laos, 3-0, following their 2-2 draw with Indonesia (one point).
“It’s gonna be a difficult game. It’s just nice knowing we can kind of go into it a little bit more free, knowing that we’re (already) qualified but make no mistake about it, we wanna (beat Vietnam and) top the group,” said Gier.