Aff Suzuki Cup: PH Azkals fall 1-2 to Thais

11:33 pm | Saturday, November 24th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—Philippines couldn’t get out of the first half hole and fell to Thailand, 1-2, Saturday night in its opening assignment in the AFF Suzuki Cup group stages in Bangkok.

Paul Mulders pulled one back for the struggling Azkals in the 76th minute—but the goal to at least forge a stalemate was just elusive.

Thailand moved to the lead in group A with three points, while Vietnam and Myanmar—which settled for a 1-1 draw earlier—have a point apiece.

The Thais, with their waves of relentless attacks, scored two goals in just a span of two minutes in the first half—and still remained sharp and dominated the pace in the second.

Jakkraphan Pornsai slotted one home in the 39th minute just infront of the box, then Anuch Kitpongsri managed to elude his defender then get around ‘keep Ed Sacapaño for the goal just two minutes after.

Sacapaño, though, still had a solid showing for the Philippines—thwarting the bulk of Thailand’s countless attempts.

The Philippine side did not have the luxury Thailand had when it came to shot on goals as it could not get the momentum with the Thais hounding their every step.

Subsitute Patrick Reichelt, replacing James Younghusband who, like his brother Phil, had a tough time Saturday night, made things happen, for a moment.

A wide-open Mulders connected on a fine cross from Reichelt, giving the Azkals live with just a few minutes left in the match.

But Philippines suffered a huge blow when its head coach Hans Michael Weiss was sent off in the 81st minute.

Weiss was caught by the referees intentionally throwing the ball at Thailand’s Anucha Kitpongsri, who was lying down in the pitch.

It was rugged from the beginning as 20 minutes into the match, Phil Younghusband already suffered a cut to his left eyebrow while Jerry Lucena took a knee to the head.

The Azkals, with zero points after the first day of group A action, face a familiar foe in Vietnam on Tuesday as the group stages continue.

Philippines couldn’t get out of the first half hole and fell to Thailand, 1-2, Saturday night in its opening assignment in the AFF Suzuki Cup group stages in Bangkok.

Recent Stories:

Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines.

Tags: AFF Suzuki Cup , Azkals , Paul Mulders

BryanMatt

The low quality of Asian refereeing always annoys me. Even so, a good performance by the Azkals and we have just as much individual quality as Thailand. Unfortunately, we’re technically behind them because — with all due respect to Michael Weiss — the Philippines isn’t yet in a financial position to hire a top-quality coach. Thailand’s coaching team is led by someone who has coached an African Nations Cup winning side and it was also noticeable that his support staff is non-Thai. This must cost them an awful lot of money (plus they’ve had former English Premier League managers coaching them in the past) and I assume the Philippines is some way off from being able to make a similar investment. So I mention this with apologies to Weiss who, after all is more of a qualified “sports scientist” than a proven team coach (though he let himself down with his red card — especially when the ill-discipline of the Azkals has been a problem in the past. Kudos to the players for keeping their cool last night). I hope they can regroup against Vietnam and get the win.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KF2TCBJ2AUC7VIPR3TACWUGITE Rednaxela VD

Guiarado, overrated.
Lemuel Vargas

At least, it was not a blowout score..

1GeorgeTolentino2

They lost.

http://twitter.com/Sizzle75Ian ian martinez

Win, lose or draw Azkal games are always exciting
http://jaoromero.com/ Jao Romero

dirty game by the Thais. sloppy calls by the refs. be that as it may, the Azkals were like dogs that had their tails between their legs, allowing the shorter and smaller Thais to bully them into a physical game. i mean, come on! you are all taller, stronger, bigger than the Thais. to get mauled by them is just embarrassing. *facepalm*

assert your strength and fight back with physicality. not dirty play, but just body them up! you should be winning these phyical battles.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KCMGRMI3HLLKWHYNUSHWLO3GMI ticoy

Agree, it seems that they do not know what to do there at the pitch. A lot of passing mistakes. Assign players whom have been practicing and playing together since, or for a long time. Lastly, it was an unwise move by Weiss, he shoudn’t have done that.

BryanMatt

The low quality of Asian refereeing always annoys me. Even so, a good performance by the Azkals and we have just as much individual quality as Thailand. Unfortunately, we’re technically behind them because — with all due respect to Michael Weiss — the Philippines isn’t yet in a financial position to hire a top-quality coach. Thailand’s coaching team is led by someone who has coached an African Nations Cup winning side and it was also noticeable that his support staff is non-Thai. This must cost them an awful lot of money (plus they’ve had former English Premier League managers coaching them in the past) and I assume the Philippines is some way off from being able to make a similar investment. So I mention this with apologies to Weiss who, after all is more of a qualified “sports scientist” than a proven team coach (though he let himself down with his red card — especially when the ill-discipline of the Azkals has been a problem in the past. Kudos to the players for keeping their cool last night). I hope they can regroup against Vietnam and get the win.

watot

Angel too slow as striker, not able to set up play if get trapped. Azkal overall were disoriented. We need Neil, de Jong and Shrock.

Aff Suzuki Cup: PH Azkals fall 1-2 to Thais

News

Sports

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Business

Technology

Opinion

Global Nation