MANAMA – The Philippines will be looking to end this tough two-country swing in the World Cup qualifiers with a victory against Bahrain on Tuesday at Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa. Five days removed from their sensational draw with North Korea in hostile ground in Pyongyang, the Azkals hope to climb back to second spot by collecting all three points in the clash with the Bahrainis whose home support won’t be as intimidating as that of North Korea.
Azkals coach Thomas Dooley has stressed the importance of the match for the team to keep its hopes alive of making it to the third round of the qualifiers. Skipper Phil Younghusband went even further saying that the result in North Korea would not mean anything if the Azkals don’t come away with a victory against the Bahrainis.
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As it stands, North Korea still sits on top of Group H with 10 points with Uzbekistan a point behind halfway through the qualifying tournament. The Azkals are in third with seven points while the Bahrainis are four points back with three from their four matches. The clash kicking off at 6 p.m. (11 p.m. in Manila) is the return fixture of the June 11 duel won by the Azkals at Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan where Misagh Bahadoran and Javier Patino fired the goals to lift the home side, before it conceded a late goal. Struggling and out of sorts, the Bahrainis have lost three of their four matches so far in the qualifiers. Just a few months after appearing in the Asian Cup, the Bahrainis look like a shadow of the team that qualified for the tournament in the first place.
Although their chances of moving to the next round remain slim, the Bahrainis remain a tricky foe as the second seed in Group H. The Azkals expect the Bahrainis to come out fighting and protect their home turf after they suffered a 0-4 defeat to Uzbekistan last Thursday.
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As the Azkals head into the crunch duel, here are some things we need to look at.
High on confidence, low on energy
Confidence is soaring within the squad especially after that stalemate in Pyongyang as the Azkals showed the resilience and never-say-die spirit that have been their trademark the past few years. The gutsy performances from the players have been a source of encouragement as the team travelled here. Physically, however, its a different story for the Azkals who have spent close to 60 hours traveling the past nine days. Since October 4, probably no football team in the world has travelled more than the Azkals. On the way to Pyongyang, the Manila-based Azkals travelled 18 hours to get to the North Korean capital, while the Europe-based players were traveling close to 24 hours when they linked up with the team in Beijing. Several Azkals are in off season with the UFL already finished last month and some players haven’t played a competitive match since the Uzbekistan game. The first half of the game against North Korea, the Azkals coped well physically but many of them cramped in the second half and the team barely survived to secure the draw. It was tough and physically draining match, but the Azkals duly deserved a point for the big fighting heart they showed to keep it goalless right until the end. But the job was not finished in Pyongyang. The challenge in Bahrain awaits.
From the time they left the hotel in Pyongyang to arriving in Manama, the Azkals spent close to 30 hours traveling again in the lead up to the match with a 15-hour stopover in Beijing and another two hour stay in Abu Dhabi before finally arriving here. More than anything, Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said he had to put emphasis on rest and recovery for this trip. “We have less meetings so they can stay in the room and go around a little bit,” said Dooley at the team hotel. “The training sessions are less intense. We had nice and easy recovery training sessions. It just something thats fun and we’re letting them relax. The most important thing is how we prepare mentally for the game.”
Traveling is indeed part and parcel of being a football player, but one cannot escape the fact that performances are definitely affected by such factors. “We have to put all the energy we have left and hope its going to be enough against Bahrain,” Dooley said.
Perfect time to make a change
Having played the Azkals last June, the Bahrainis are aware of the Azkals’ style of play and their danger men. And for this reason, the match could just be the perfect opportunity for Dooley to spring a surprise by changing his system not only to keep the Bahrainis guessing but also to address some fitness concerns. Dooley has already hinted of changing his 3-4-3 system the past couple of days even as he observed players who could probably start. “We plan to change the system,” he said. “We want to get some fresh legs in. We will try to find out who steps up and who’s ready to play.” The logical change could be back to a 4-4-2 which has been the Azkals’ regular formation the past few years. Still, the only concern is that Dooley didn’t have enough time to drill his side back to its old formation. The players are experienced enough to handle the change though. One move that has really done wonders for Dooley is to start Schrock up front in Pyongyang. The Bundesliga veteran constantly threatened with his pace and guile. Playing up front allows Schrock some creative freedom and partly shields him from defensive responsibility.
Schrock would have been effective playing on the flanks as well, but the position requires some positional discipline as imposed by Dooley, something that Schrock struggles with since he likes to be in the thick of the action at all times. “I like it and I think for those games (like in North Korea) I can fit in very well,” Schrock said referring to his role. “But I can play any position as long as I can help the team.” Dooley also gambled on putting left back Daisuke Sato at an advanced position to allow him to create chances on the left. For awhile the ploy worked in Pyongyang as Sato managed to carve out a couple of good chances in the first half against North Korea. The question mark will be Iain Ramsay who has been substituted at halftime for the past two matches.
Will Dooley stick with him on the left? That remains to be seen, but Misagh Bahadoran put in an energetic shift against the Koreans and is still the team’s leading scorer in the competition. Amani Aguinaldo, Jerry Lucena and Luke Woodland should all keep their places in the starting eleven after their impressive display in Pyongyang.
Will Bahrain show up?
The Azkals may be facing the Bahrainis at the best possible time with the home side just a few days removed from a heavy 0-4 defeat to Uzbekistan leaving the squad’s confidence in shambles. Bahraini journalists following the team candidly admitted that the squad is at its worst possible shape with Argentine coach Sergio Batista struggling to get the best out of his players. Batista has also left out two of the best available talents for the squad in all-action midfielder Faouzi Aaish and naturalized striker Jaycee John Okwunwanne who both play overseas, deciding to work with players who are based in the country.
Aaish scored in the 2-1 win over the Azkals in a friendly early this year but he’s stayed with his club in Qatar. Okwunwanne is in Thailand, where he plays for Bangkok United. Abdulwahab Al-malood fired the lone goal for Bahrain against the Philippines last June and he could be the biggest threat the Azkals have to face in this match. But talk of internal struggles are rife and Batista who needs an interpreter each time he talks to the team is left to rescue the situation for the Bahrainis. The team risks further embarrassment as it was supposed to be the second seed in the group, but is lagging behind lower-ranked teams like the Philippines and North Korea. It was hard to believe that a country as settled as Bahrain in terms of its standing in Asian football was having a tough time knowing the vast resources of the country. Last Thursday, the Bahrainis had a forgettable second half against the Uzbeks, who scored four goals in the final 39 minutes. Bahrain’s defending was so woeful the Uzbeks could have walked the ball to the goal unchallenged.
Static and playing with no urgency, the Bahrainis set themselves up for a disaster. One local journalist said he saw the loss coming as soon as the team walked out of the tunnel for the match. “They just seemed disinterested in playing the match,” he said. Apparently, the current squad are not made up of full professional players and only train after office hours. Dooley knows all too well that underestimating the Bahrainis could also spell disaster for his team. “Historically, Bahrain should still be better than us,” Dooley said. “They’ve played against the best teams in Asia. We expect a Bahrain thats stronger than ever before. We don’t know if they show up. But our team will fight.”