COACH DOOLEY TO MAKE CHANGES FOR VIETNAM GAME
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 26 Nov 2014
Azkals coach Tom Dooley has indicated he will make some changes to the side that scored a smashing 4-0 victory over Indonesia in the AFF Suzuki Cup on Tuesday to clinch a place in the semi finals when the Philippines plays hosts Vietnam at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on Friday.
A draw against Vietnam would be good enough for the Azkals to claim the top spot in Group A, sending the team against the No.2 squad in Group B which many feel will be defending champions Singapore.
Dooley was quoted by the Suzuki Cup website saying ?we have a couple of players injured. Juan Guirado pulled his muscle and will be out for a week or two weeks. Then we have Patrick Reichelt who twisted his knee so we have to find out how bad that is.?
The coach who was all smiles as he embraced his players after the game against Indonesia whom they hadn?t beaten in 80 years said ?we will definitely change some players, with other players getting a chance to play.?
Dooley said ?I have faith in everyone we have over here and everyone will get a chance to play. But it does not mean we do not want to win.?
The coach, a former German-American midfielder who was a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team that competed in the World Cup refused to dwell on the milestones reached by the Philippines and instead preferred to highlight the performance of the Azkals.
He was quoted as saying ?I got some news that we have broken some records and stuff but that does not matter. The most important thing is we are going to the semi finals.?
The Indonesian coach Alfred Riedl who in an interview prior to the match aired on Fix Sports said the preparation for the Suzuki Cup was ?the worst ever? even as he showed poor sportsmanship when he said that ?the truth will come when they (Azkals) play a team that puts them under pressure.?
Riedl added, ?if they continue like this maybe they can do something in the tournament but if they meet a physically stronger team then the day of truth will come, then we will see how good they are under pressure.?
The sore loser pointed out ?In the first match against Laos they were not under pressure and against us they were not under pressure. In the semi final we will see how good they are. They impressed today but it is easy to impress because our team was dead.?
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