MALAYSIAN COACH CITES AMAZING PROGRESS BY PHILIPPINE AZKALS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 28 Feb 2012
Rajagopal.
The coach of the Malaysian national football team that will play the Philippine Azkals in a friendly match at the Rizal Memorial stadium at 7:00 p.m. today, Datuk K. Rajagopal, has cited the progress made by the Philippines and expressed his happiness that the country is now paying attention to football which is the No. 1 sport in the world.
Rajagopal said he "already sensed" the development of football in the Philippines while speaking to colleagues and fellow coaches when the Philippines was performing in the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010. He said "it was amazing (to see) the large audience glued to the Suzuki Cup. This brought a lot of attention and has given the drive and put pressure on all because the Philippines was doing so well."
He said "The recent results should be good for football in the Philippines. You are our neighbors in Southeast Asia and we want to see you progress. In the last two (2) years I think the transformation is amazing and going in a fast direction and that should be good for all."
The Malaysian coach made it clear that "As you go along there will be wins and losses but at the same time you are going to learn a lot about which department you need to strengthen, where you think the weakness is and where you can bring extra players to strengthen the team to give you a different dimension to give you a different balance. That is what I am looking for."
Looking ahead at the game against the Philippine Azkals, coach Rajagopal said "Definitely I am expecting a very tough match. It's still in the mind that we are defending champions (Suzuki Cup 2010 and SEA Games 2011 ) and they (The Azkals) dont know whether its a strong team that I brought or whether it is the same team, so we have got to expect a very tough encounter." He added "I want the game to be very exciting and for the fans to really enjoy the game."
Coach Rajagopal said the Malaysians "kike to play a short passing game, play fast, giving counter attacks. That has been our identity, especially to circulate the ball, switch direction of play fast and find space which we can utilize to punish our opponent."
Goalkeeper Neil Etherdige of the English Premier League side Fulham said "It's great to be playing a game in the Philippines and I'm looking forward to it. They (Malaysia) are the Southeast Asian champions and we have a lot of respect for them but at the same time they have a lot of responsibility and we are hoping to break them down."
Etheridge said while at Fulham he has followed the development of the Azkals and added, "I take massive pride in the progress that we've made. You are not always going to win every game but considering two years ago this is a team that was unnoticed in this country and now we've taken massive steps forward and hopefully in the years to come we can take even larger steps forward."
Etheridge made it a point to state that the Malaysians "Obviously have a reputation to look after and we've got nothing to lose. But our people are watching so in that respect we have something to lose. We've had different results over the last few games and going into the Challenge Cup next month, obviously players don't want to get injured and this is only a friendly game. But I think I speak on behalf of all the players when I say a friendly game is only a name and obviously we want to win on Wednesday night and I think we are quite capable of doing so."
Azkals coach Michael Weiss took a brief break from a luncheon meeting with the team to discuss strategy and to look at scouting reports on the Malaysians and told the Manila Standard "We have the players who were in Dubai which was part of the preparation for this match and the big challenge for the Challenge Cup that's coming up in Nepal and we have players coming in and out. Etheridge and Ray Johnsson arrived just two days ago but they are used to this kind of travel now and they made a pretty sharp impression in the training on Monday and we are looking forward to the training session tonight (Tuesday) of the team that will be playing together in a small scrimmage. "
Weiss said that "Despite missing team captain Ali Borromeo tremendously in the backline we have Jason Sabio coming up pretty strong. I hope he can conserve his shape and his condition and Angel Guirado's brother (Juan Luis Guirado) coming in who is a big plus for our team, Johnsson giving stability and Carlie de Murga who most probably will start on the right side and is looking pretty sharp and with Jason De Jeong, the holding midfielder who despite his young age (he turned 22 Tuesday) big experience already, I'm pretty confident regarding the defense line," which in some of the Azkals past games proved vulnerable.
At the team meeting Weiss said they "scouted our opponents carefully and watched out for their strengths and weaknesses in order to ake advantage."
He said the level of football "is pretty even" in the Southeast A sian region and hoped "We can take advantage of Wednesday's home game."
Weiss thanked the Malaysian coach for his comments on the progress of Philippine football and noted that "what has happened in the Philippines in the last 15 to 16 months is a miracle because this kind of progress normally takes five to ten years so we are already quite stable in terms of matches. Okay we lose here and there, nobody wants to lose, me neither, but I know why I"m losing at this time. I>ts because I am trying to prepare the team for the Challenge Cup and I'm trying to prepare a top team for the future of the Philippines. Time and patience is required, big time."
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