Philippine Azkals. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
BOCAUE, Bulacan—Judging from the way the early hours of Thursday went for them, things could have gone worse for the Philippine Azkals.
Instead, the night ended in glorious fashion as the Azkals put together an awe-inspiring team performance in gutting out a 2-1 win over Bahrain at the start of World Cup Qualifying at Philippine Sports Stadium.
The Azkals stayed positive even after news broke that former England youth player Luke Woodland, whose mother is Filipino, failed to secure his Fifa clearance to play for the team.
In his place, an old reliable Rob Gier stepped up and put in a splendid shift.
The returning Stephan Schrock hobbled off the pitch 23 minutes into the match due to a knee injury. Misagh Bahadoran came in his place and opened the scoring for the Azkals.
But the team, already used to adversity, rose to the challenge again, bringing down a Middle East powerhouse that had moved within a whisker of World Cup qualification in 2006 and 2010.
Azkals coach Thomas Dooley struggled to pick out a single player who stood out for the Azkals, putting emphasis on a quality team performance.
Bahadoran and Javier Patiño may have scored the goals, but the Azkals defended and attacked as a unit to produce a stunning result in Group H of the qualifying tournament.
“It was a team effort tonight,” said Dooley. “We had to work hard offensively and defensively. Nobody had a bad day.”
With Woodland expected to get his clearance in the next few days, perhaps the only blow for the side will be Schrock’s impending absence due to a knee injury he sustained 10 minutes into the match.
Disciplined and well-drilled, the Azkals looked more threatening on attack, thanks to Fil-Australian newcomer Iain Ramsay, whose speed caused trouble to the Bahraini defense.
Phil Younghusband thrived in his new role as midfielder in a performance described by Dooley as “outstanding.”
Dooley hailed Gier’s professionalism as the defender was only informed that he was starting in Woodland’s place just 45 minutes before the match.
“It’s a great start for the team,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “I always believed that we can pull off a surprise in this group and we did it tonight. We have a deeper squad.”
The Azkals left for Doha, Qatar, last night for the clash against Yemen on Tuesday.
“It’s too early to tell, but we should win again in the next game and have six points coming back,” said Palami. “It’s nice to travel coming off a win.”