Minegishi rues disappointing debut

BOCAUE, BULACAN—What should have been a dream debut for Fil-Japanese winger Pika Minegishi turned out to be one game that he’d rather forget in the AFF Suzuki Cup Saturday night.

Under the bright lights at Philippine Sports Stadium here, the 25-year-old Minegishi, the reigning United Football League player of the year, was expected to dazzle as the Azkals needed attacking impetus after Singapore went down to 10 men 35 minutes into their Group A clash.

But while the Global FC star did get himself into good scoring positions after coming in as a halftime substitute for Iain Ramsay, his inability to finish off chances proved to be key in Singapore salvaging a scoreless stalemate that puts both teams in a tight situation after Matchday One.

Minegishi vowed he won’t miss the next time he’s presented an opportunity.

“We still have a chance so I just have to do better,” he said.

“It was bad,” Minegishi said of his performance. “I said sorry to my teammates because I feel I let them down not being able to score on our chances.”

A standout of Sendai University and a former youth player of the Urawa Red Diamonds, Minegishi, whose mother hails from Olongapo, had long been in the wish list of Azkals manager Dan Palami to suit up for the national team, after acquiring him to play for Global.

It wasn’t until last month when he started processing his Philippine passport.

To be fair, the Azkals looked more threatening as soon as Minegishi came on at the half. He forced a diving save from Singapore keeper Hassan Sunny just two minutes into the second half. Hassan also went full stretch to deny Minegishi’s header in stoppage time.

But the best chance Minegishi wasted came in the 80th minute when he skied his effort from close range after a flowing move involving Mike Ott and Stephan Schrock.

The Azkals will need Minegishi to be at his best now that they will no longer have the luxury of dropping points from hereon.