MANILA, Philippines — The rapidly-improving Philippine Azkals get another tough test, this time against Qatari side Al-Ahli for the last friendly match of their training camp Monday in Doha.
Showing tremendous progress under coach Thomas Dooley, the Azkals routed Nepal, 3-0, Friday night before a huge Fil ipino crowd at Grand Hamad Stadium.
Underscoring the Azkals’ improvement was the fact that the team had three first-time scorers in Curt Dizon, Martin Steuble and Ruben Doctora.
It was Dooley’s first win at the helm after a draw against Malaysia and a loss to Azerbaijan.
They also hardly gave the Nepalese side a chance, staying disciplined defensively and showing a firm grasp of Dooley’s system which puts emphasis on creating scoring chances through short passes and patient buildup play.
Dooley, himself, has been surprised by the squad’s progress.
“We changed the system and they needed to understand,” Dooley told the Inquirer. “And in this short time I must say it worked out faster than I thought.”