Philippine Azkals vs Nepal in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Photo by: Tristan Tamayo/Inquirer.net
Philippine Azkals coach Thomas Dooley expressed satisfaction over his side’s 4-1 win over 10-man Nepal to kickstart its 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign on Tuesday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
But holding his team to high standards, the American coach wasn’t happy that the Azkals conceded a goal just before halftime when it looked like the team was cruising to the one sided victory.
“I think it can be avoided, every goal can be avoided,” he said. “I’m a little bit upset at halftime, but even when you’re winning 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, you have to have enough urgency to do something. Every single ball that goes close to the goal is high alert, so we have to be wary with those.”
READ: Azkals drub 10-man Nepal to open Asian Cup qualifiers
Establishing a 3-0 deficit late in the first half, the Philippines seemed to have let its guard down, allowing Nepal to amp up the pressure and eventually pounce on the opportunity with Bishal Rai sending the ball past Neil Etheridge.
Dooley called out his national team defenders on what he felt was the team’s lack of focus.
“That’s the job of the defenders. No goals should be scored against us,” he said.
“They have to look and take it upon themselves that nobody takes a shot and nobody scores against us. I have to look at the tape, but I think it was wide open and we had three guys in the box. That’s a thing that upsets me: our marking. Everybody has to mark a player and we have to mark that player until we have the ball. Again, we have to look at the tapes. We don’t want to get scored at and those are the things we still have to work on.”
READ: Nepal coach disheartened over big loss to Azkals
Though elated with the Azkals’ first tournament win since the 3-2 victory over North Korea in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, Dooley said that there’s still a room for improvement for the squad.
Dooley is hoping clubs will be more flexible in lending their players for the national team’s cause.
“Half of the players aren’t released for our (friendly) against Malaysia, so we only had one day to prepare for that. I was hoping that Ceres would support the national team, the same way with Meralco, Kaya, Global, and Davao and all the other teams because it would help everybody,” he said.
“It’s difficult when you have a role that you don’t win games, it kind of plays a little bit in your head. But again, we have to go every time, from the first minute, put the pressure on the opponent, and let them know that we can play.”