AZKALS EDGE GUAM 1-0 TO GRAB LEAD IN PHIIPPINE FOOTBALL PEACE CUP
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 26 Sep 2012
The Philippine Azkals national team banked on a fortuitous break in the 81st minute when Patrick Reichelt scored on a header with the Guam goalkeeper was caught napping to give the hosts a 1-0 lead that pushed them to the top of the standings in the single round robin Philippine Football Peace Cup at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Tuesday evening.
The goal by the young Filipino-German saved the day for the Azkals whose woeful finishing clearly underscored the absence of prolific striker Phil Younghusband and brother James who form a potent combination up front.
The Azkals dominated the match for long spells either side of halftime but missed several chances to score, many of them comparatively easy shots in front of goal where they had 19 attempts with Ian Araneta the worst offender.
Coach Michael Weiss pulled out Araneta at the 54 minute mark after he flubbed a shot at goal following an excellent cross by Demetrius Omphroy and sent Reichelt in which proved to be a smart move in the end. Omphroy was picked up by Toronto FC in the US Major League Soccer draft last year.
Omphroy had an excellent all-round game, issuing deft through balls and nifty passes and narrowly missed scoring when his shot was just wide of the upright in the 31st minute.
Araneta was clearly frustrated by his failure to add to his international tally as were Denis Wolfe and Carli De Murga but Wolfe, De Murga and Jeffrey Christiaens all showed great potential while Ed Sacapano in goal was a daredevil often rushing out to pluck lobbed balls up in the air and to get down on other shots.
Araneta saw his header go wide off a corner in the 21st minute after a shot at goal was deflected and he had only the Guam keeper to beat.
A free kick by De Murga for a handball soared just over the bar in the 33rd minute before a cross by Christaens was gathered by the Guam goalkeeper.
Wolfe was wide with a shot at goal while a cracking shot by Bahadoran produced a great save by the keeper before Araneta?s soft header was wide of the resulting corner. Another soft attempt by Araneta and an attempt by skipper Chieffy Caligdong which sailed harmlessly over the crossbar told the story of the first half.
Another youngster Matthew Uy from New Hyde Park in New York replaced veteran UP coach Anto Gonzales while Jason Sabio who is recovering from a hamstring injury replaced Misagh Bahadoran.
Guam began to play aggressively in their counter-attacks before a good ball by Christaens went begging after which Weiss substituted Marvin Angeles with Lexton Moy.
Another great ball in by Omphroy saw Reichelt send the ball soaring over the crossbar in the 66th minute before 18 year old find Jose Porteria substituted Caligdong.
Six minutes later the Azkals missed another scoring opportunity when Wolfe played the ball in nicely for Wolfe who slashed it wide of the left upright.
In the 74th minute goalkeeper Sacapano rushed out to head a long ball away and was hurt as a Guam player banged into him while going for the ball. But he was soon up and ready to continue.
Three minutes later Porteria was visibly disappointed when his attempt rolled harmlessly wide of the right goalpost before Lexton Moy had a go on a long shot which was well taken by the goalkeeper of Guam who, unfortunately for the visitors paid a heavy price 90 seconds later when he was beaten by a Riechert header as he came out and was caught out of position.
Reichert said later ?I took a chance and it was a goal. I was lucky.?
In an earlier game a controversial penalty in the 90th minute enabled Chinese-Taipei to pull off a 2-2 draw with Macau.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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