Source: Roy Moore, GMA News
This time the Azkals failed to duplicate or even surpass
their surprising draw against Singapore
in last year's AFF Suzuki Cup.
The Philippines suffered a 2-0 loss to the Southeast Asian powerhouse Lions, 2-0, in a friendly match at the Jalan Besar Stadium Friday night.
Mohamad Shaiful Bin Esah Nain and Aleksandar Đurić scored the goals for the hosts in the 51st and 64th minute and Singapore foiled the Azkals' repeated attempts to tie the match.
The Azkals, thanks to Simon Greatwich's 90th minute goal in injury time, held Singapore to a 1-1 draw in the Group stages of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.
Azkals made Singapore work
Esah's shot cruelly deflected off Ray Jonsson in the 51st minute before Đurić flew past the Philippine defense to beat Neil Etheridge for the insurance goal in the 64th.
The Azkals entered the game as underdogs with some bookmakers giving odds of 9-1 for a Philippine win.
And despite having a population of only five million, Singapore (136) is one of the Southeast Asian heavyweights, ranked 30 places above the Philippines (166) in the FIFA rankings.
First half
The Singaporeans built their play behind the 41-year-old Đurić in the first half.
Chieffy Caligdong scored for the Azkals but the goal was ruled offside.
Fazrul Nawaz, receiving a pass from Đurić, nearly scored for Singapore but returning goalkeeper Neil Etheridge dove quickly to foil the chance.
Caligdong had another chance but his shot was wide. Phil Younghusband also curled a free-kick just wide before the halftime whistled sounded with the teams still goalless.
Second half
The Azkals played aggressively at the start of the second half as they continued to put pressure on the host's keeper Izwan Mahbud.
Singapore, however, broke the deadlock when Esah drilled in Shahril Ishak's corner. Played short, the ball took a huge deflection on its way into the goal and Etheridge had it covered until it bounced off Jonsson and out of his reach.
Phil Younghusband then had the chance to equalize as he elected to shoot rather than pass across. Firing into the bottom right it drew a great save from Mahbud, who had replaced Lionel Lewis at half-time as the Singaporean keeper.
Singapore then doubled their lead just past the hour mark. While there was a great element of luck about the way Singapore went ahead there was no luck involved in the second as Shahdan Sulaiman slotted the ball through the Azkals' defense to Đurić.
Đurić, the Tampines Rovers forward, burst past the Philippine defense and beat Etheridge. Singapore's second goal silenced the wildly cheering Filipino crowd and the hosts used up the clock after that.
Building momentum
International friendlies are, of course, just a way of experimenting and trying to see where a team stands. Singapore is preparing for the Third Round of the 2014 World Cup Qualification against a highly ranked Jordan (83) side and their previous two games were a 2-0 loss to Iraq (107) and a 2-1 loss to China (73).
Yet the Philippines are catching up to Singapore in terms of quality and results. In the 10 games leading up to this friendly Singapore have won four, drawn three and lost three while the Philippines have a 3-5-2 win-draw-loss record losing only to Kuwait.
Angel Guirado's injury is a thing of concern for the Azkals. The Filipino-Spanish midfielder was replaced by Ian Araneta in the first half. Nate Burkey then replaced Araneta in the second half when the Philippine Air Force forward also got injured.
Guirado and Araneta will receive medical attention and are uncertain for Tuesday's friendly against Nepal.
Learning curve
The Azkals are facing a steep learning curve and hopefully they can take many things away from this result. Singapore has a well-developed domestic league as all their 26 players for World Cup Qualification are based in their national league, the S-League.
The Singaporean fans, players and administration also have massive faith in their Serbian coach Radojko Avramović who has been managing the National side since 2003 due to his 57 percent win record and steered the hosts to two Suzuki Cup titles.
The Philippines, in contrast, have had seven coaches during the same stretch. Coach Michael Weiss took over less than a year ago.
The Azkals will look ahead to Tuesday's (October 11) friendly against Nepal to bounce back from their loss.
Ranked one place higher than Singapore, Nepal (135) will be another threat but this time the Azkals will be playing at home at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Missing Stephan Schrock and Anton Del Rosario, both due to injury, the Azkals made a good account of themselves despite the result and will hope Guirado and Araneta's injuries aren't too serious as they look to pull off a result against a strong Nepalese side.
The Philippines suffered a 2-0 loss to the Southeast Asian powerhouse Lions, 2-0, in a friendly match at the Jalan Besar Stadium Friday night.
Mohamad Shaiful Bin Esah Nain and Aleksandar Đurić scored the goals for the hosts in the 51st and 64th minute and Singapore foiled the Azkals' repeated attempts to tie the match.
The Azkals, thanks to Simon Greatwich's 90th minute goal in injury time, held Singapore to a 1-1 draw in the Group stages of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.
Azkals made Singapore work
Esah's shot cruelly deflected off Ray Jonsson in the 51st minute before Đurić flew past the Philippine defense to beat Neil Etheridge for the insurance goal in the 64th.
The Azkals entered the game as underdogs with some bookmakers giving odds of 9-1 for a Philippine win.
And despite having a population of only five million, Singapore (136) is one of the Southeast Asian heavyweights, ranked 30 places above the Philippines (166) in the FIFA rankings.
First half
The Singaporeans built their play behind the 41-year-old Đurić in the first half.
Chieffy Caligdong scored for the Azkals but the goal was ruled offside.
Fazrul Nawaz, receiving a pass from Đurić, nearly scored for Singapore but returning goalkeeper Neil Etheridge dove quickly to foil the chance.
Caligdong had another chance but his shot was wide. Phil Younghusband also curled a free-kick just wide before the halftime whistled sounded with the teams still goalless.
Second half
The Azkals played aggressively at the start of the second half as they continued to put pressure on the host's keeper Izwan Mahbud.
Singapore, however, broke the deadlock when Esah drilled in Shahril Ishak's corner. Played short, the ball took a huge deflection on its way into the goal and Etheridge had it covered until it bounced off Jonsson and out of his reach.
Phil Younghusband then had the chance to equalize as he elected to shoot rather than pass across. Firing into the bottom right it drew a great save from Mahbud, who had replaced Lionel Lewis at half-time as the Singaporean keeper.
Singapore then doubled their lead just past the hour mark. While there was a great element of luck about the way Singapore went ahead there was no luck involved in the second as Shahdan Sulaiman slotted the ball through the Azkals' defense to Đurić.
Đurić, the Tampines Rovers forward, burst past the Philippine defense and beat Etheridge. Singapore's second goal silenced the wildly cheering Filipino crowd and the hosts used up the clock after that.
Building momentum
International friendlies are, of course, just a way of experimenting and trying to see where a team stands. Singapore is preparing for the Third Round of the 2014 World Cup Qualification against a highly ranked Jordan (83) side and their previous two games were a 2-0 loss to Iraq (107) and a 2-1 loss to China (73).
Yet the Philippines are catching up to Singapore in terms of quality and results. In the 10 games leading up to this friendly Singapore have won four, drawn three and lost three while the Philippines have a 3-5-2 win-draw-loss record losing only to Kuwait.
Angel Guirado's injury is a thing of concern for the Azkals. The Filipino-Spanish midfielder was replaced by Ian Araneta in the first half. Nate Burkey then replaced Araneta in the second half when the Philippine Air Force forward also got injured.
Guirado and Araneta will receive medical attention and are uncertain for Tuesday's friendly against Nepal.
Learning curve
The Azkals are facing a steep learning curve and hopefully they can take many things away from this result. Singapore has a well-developed domestic league as all their 26 players for World Cup Qualification are based in their national league, the S-League.
The Singaporean fans, players and administration also have massive faith in their Serbian coach Radojko Avramović who has been managing the National side since 2003 due to his 57 percent win record and steered the hosts to two Suzuki Cup titles.
The Philippines, in contrast, have had seven coaches during the same stretch. Coach Michael Weiss took over less than a year ago.
The Azkals will look ahead to Tuesday's (October 11) friendly against Nepal to bounce back from their loss.
Ranked one place higher than Singapore, Nepal (135) will be another threat but this time the Azkals will be playing at home at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Missing Stephan Schrock and Anton Del Rosario, both due to injury, the Azkals made a good account of themselves despite the result and will hope Guirado and Araneta's injuries aren't too serious as they look to pull off a result against a strong Nepalese side.
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