A bundle of articles from PhilStar and Inquirer
After 40 years, Azkals topple SingaporeBy Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:45 am | Sunday, September 9th, 2012
SINGAPORE—Fueled by a virtuoso performance from Stephan Schrock and the quality finishing of Chieffy Caligdong and Phil Younghusband, the Philippines finally broke a long winless spell against Singapore with a 2-0 thumping Friday night at the Jurong West Stadium here.
In one of the national side’s finest performances, Caligdong and Younghusband supplied the finish to well-crafted counter-attacking moves as the Filipinos won for the first time in 40 years against one of the traditional powerhouses of Southeast Asia.
Both teams were making use of the friendly match to sharpen up for the AFF Suzuki Cup in November, but for a Filipino side always aching to prove itself, the win meant so much more.
“I’ve always believed that we could be there with the best in Southeast Asia and tonight we were able to prove that somehow we can actually win against a strong team in the region,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.
“It’s a massive statement,” said defender Rob Gier. “We’ve always been in the shadow and people saying that we were lucky in the Suzuki Cup. This shows that we are contenders for this year’s tournament.”
Schrock’s brilliance, a resolute defense anchored by Gier, Jerry Lucena and Jason Sabio and quicker combination plays compared to the scoreless draw against Cambodia helped the Azkals avenged their 0-2 loss to Singapore in October last year.
“It just shows that we have come a good way from last year,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss. “But definitely by far we’re still not at the level where we could be.”
Against the run of play, Schrock found Caligdong, whose classy right-footed finish took a fortunate bounce of a rough patch of grass in front of goal before finding the back of the net.
Younghusband atoned for a couple of early misses with a left-footed strike in the 49th that came after Schrock floated a measured ball into his path just outside the box.
Caligdong could have made it 3-nil when he latched unto a cross from Carli de Murga in the 62nd minute, but only managed a foot save from Singapore goalkeeper Hyrulbizam Jumaat.
Singapore actually had the first clear chance when Shi Jiayi’s low shot was stopped by Neil Etheridge in the fourth minute. The Lions had a goal disallowed for offside in the 36th minute when Fazrul Nawaz tapped in from close range and almost forced an own goal when Etheridge bobbled a header by Shi five minutes later.
sports.inquirer.net/61412/after-40-years-azkals-topple-singapore
Schrock-solid vs Lions: Azkals win first in 40 yearsBy Olmin Leyba (The Philippine Star) Updated September 09, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments
SINGAPORE – The Philippine Azkals showed they are no longer the sleeping dogs that the regional power Singapore Lions used to run over the last 40 years, eking out an emphatic 2-0 victory Friday night in an international friendly at the Jurong West Stadium here.
Energized by the efficient plays of Fil-German Stephan Schrock at midfield that was duly complemented by the solid backline, the Azkals rendered the Lions toothless to score Phl’s first victory over the hosts since an “unlikely” 2-0 triumph way back 1972.
“For a long time, we haven’t won any game against Singapore. We needed this win and it’s big especially against Singapore which is one of the best teams in Southeast Asia. And we won it in their home turf,” said Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta.
“It was a very satisfying performance,” said coach Michael Weiss. “We dominated the game, but should have played the counter more smartly and we could have scored more. It is a massive win for us and gives us a lot of confidence.”
Early goals in both halves from captain Chieffy Caligdong (eighth) and Phil Younghusband (49th) – both in combo with the prolific Shrock – gave the visiting Azkals the needed boost to reverse the tide here.
“Overall, the key was our defense. You can see that our defense was holding, and they were very disciplined,” said Araneta, giving extra credit to Rob Gier, who according to him, was “the man of the match, aside from Schrock.”
Gier called it a statement win, a sort of warning to the Azkals’ rivals in the Nov. 24-Dec. 1 Suzuki Cup.
“It’s a massive, massive statement to the rest of Southeast Asia, that we came to Singapore and beat them, 2-nil. We’ve always been under the shadow of the (unexpected semis run in the previous) Suzuki Cup, you know, they were lucky, this and that and I think this proved we’re serious contenders now,” said Gier.
They may be savoring this victory but the Azkals wouldn’t want to get carried away so much.
“I prefer to be more conservative. Of course, having last won (against Singapore) in 1972 and having won in 2012 is really an achievement for us and it shows how much we have improved,” said team manager Dan Palami.
“But once again, I want to put everything into concept, which is our preparations for the Suzuki Cup. And it’s a good thing after the (scoreless) draw with Cambodia, which we should have won. This at least sends a strong message to them, that we’re here to really try to get good results,” he added.
Schrock of Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim made a huge impact in the match, chasing the ball all over the pitch and dishing off neat passes to create scoring opportunities.
He fed Caligdong at the right moment early on and the Ilonggo winger made good on his shot, which bounced off the grass and into the goal. The Fil-German was again at it four minutes into the second half, delivering a beautiful through-ball past Harris Harun and into Younghusband who placed it to the back of the net for 2-0.
“Schrocki was obviously the star of the show, he’s made one of the best performances the Phl has ever seen. But it’s not just about Schrocki, it’s about every one of the players who was absolutely magnificent out there,” said Gier.
The Azkals left for Laos yesterday, taking a long route that would take them to Vietnam and Cambodia along the way. They’ll play Laos on Monday for the last leg of their series of friendlies.
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