PHILIPPINE AZKALS MUST SHOW MORE BITE AGAINST VIETNAM
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 27 Nov 2012
Elbowed, head-butted and generally roughed up by host nation Thailand, the Philippine Azkals will have to show more bite when they face Vietnam in a do-or-die match in the AFF Suzuki Cup at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok this evening in a game to be telecast by AKTV IBC 13.
The Philippines must win the Group ?A? encounter to strengthen their chances of making it to the semi final round. A defeat would almost certainly mean elimination.
Philippine coach Michael Weiss who will have to watch from the stands after being ejected in the game against Thailand for throwing the ball at a Thai player who was lying on the ground is reportedly ready to make some changes that would bolster chances of a victory against Vietnam whom the Azkals stunned 2-0 in 2010 to reach the final four.
Weiss recalled that ?the manager of the Vietnam team mentioned it is a do or die game,? and added that ?the loser (if there is one) will (likely) go home so this is the tone and this is the set up for the match.?
The Azkals performed better in the second half of the Thailand game after young Jeffrey Christiaens replaced captain Emilio Caligdong, midfielder Marwin Angeles came on for Phil Younghusband and Patrick Reichelt substituted James Younghusband.
Angeles upped the tempo of play in the midfield while Reichelt set up a goal for Ado Den Haag midfielder Paul Mulders with an excellent run down the right flank and a perfect cross.
Although Weiss hasn?t made up his mind on the line-up he made it clear he needs ?warriors? for today?s epic battle.
Weiss noted that ?all the three players played quite well (when they came on) and we made a better advance with Marwin Angeles in the centre of midfield? where the Azkals sorely miss the services of playmaker Stephan Schrock.
Weiss emphasized in a report on the AFF Suzuki website that ?We need people who are like warriors now because you must take this game as a battle, a tough battle, and you must be 100 per cent ready.?
The German mentor who has done a commendable job with the Philippine team said in the last game ?we had two or three players who could not perform - if you lack two or three players in a match it is going to be difficult.?
Vietnam team manager Ngo Le Bang said that the 2-0 loss to Philippines in Hanoi at the group stage of the last AFF Suzuki Cup - a result that rocked Asean football to the core - would be a motivating factor for his players.
?We have bad memories of that day,? he said. ?Losing 2-0 at home when we were defending champions was not good - we hope we can play better on Tuesday.?
He said that Philippines were a very formidable team who would be hard to break down.
The Vietnam manager said the Philippines has ? tall, powerful and disciplined players and they are good headers of the ball. They put a lot of pressure on Thailand in the first match and were a little bit unlucky - they deserved a draw in my opinion.?
He believes ?It is not an easy game for Vietnam and we are going to have to play to our maximum - we have to win if we want to go further in the competition.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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