Azkals at their best vs North Korea

Philippine Azkals celebrate victory over North Korea. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

GOALKEEPER Neil Etheridge emerged from the dugout wearing a huge smile on his face.

“Has it sunk in yet?” he asked reporters at the mixed zone at Rizal Memorial Stadium, where the Azkals earlier put together one of their greatest performances in a stunning 3-2 upset of former World Cup campaigner North Korea on Tuesday night.

For a squad whose wins are often written as upsets, even this one was hard to top. North Korea mixed it up with the big boys of football in South Africa six years ago at around the same time the Azkals were just struggling to get past opponents in the region.

But this was the Azkals at their best, defiant when defeat seemed inevitable, playing with style and flair that put an Asian powerhouse to the sword.

As Iain Ramsay slotted home the match-winner just seconds before stoppage time, the stadium exploded.

Close to six years after the Miracle of Hanoi, the Azkals finally achieved a victory that made almost the same impact.

“I like those kind of moments, those kind of games,” said Azkals coach Thomas Dooley. “I like the outcome of the game and the words written in our T-shirts: We Believe. That was the main thing for us before the game, that we can believe in ourselves and we can play football against teams like Uzbekistan and North Korea.”

The Azkals, who finished Group H in third spot behind Uzbekistan and North Korea, now turn their focus to the 24-nation AFC Asian Cup third round qualifying next year. Only 12 teams from the qualifying stage will make the Asian Cup in the UAE in 2019.

The loss proved costly for North Korea as it got eliminated from third round World Cup Qualifying.

North Korea was actually on course of making the next round with a 2-1 lead until a sublime team goal finished off by Manny Ott in the 83rd minute and Ramsay’s late heroics spoiled their progress, allowing China, which beat Qatar, 2-0, to take the spot.

The outcome was a perfect send-off for skipper Juani Guirado who announced his retirement last Monday.

“I know I wasn’t at my best, but my teammates were there for me tonight,” said the 36-year-old Guirado.

Misagh Bahadoran opened the scoring with a thumping header in the 43rd minute, but the visitors responded with goals in the 45th and 48th minutes.

Dooley brought in Ramsay and James Younghusband to strengthen the attack and that worked wonders with the two players involved in the last two goals.