Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
For coach Thomas Dooley, the Philippine Azkals’ historical 2-1 victory over Tajikistan on Tuesday that earned the country its first ever ticket to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the highest point of his four-year tenure at the helm.
“We talked about the game in the meeting and I told them that in those four years that I’m here, this is the best team that we had,” said Dooley.
”This was the best camp that we had in the four years. The energy, the spirit in training was unbelievable, and everything was positive. I haven’t seen one player in a bad mood. Everybody was laughing, energized, focused and it was unbelievable.”
With the atmosphere in the buildup to the most historic match in Philippine football history at its best, the American tactician had no doubts that the Azkals can achieve their goal even if the team had to fight from behind after a penalty from Tajik striker Nazarov Akhtam in the 62nd minute.
“It was just something I have seen a couple of times in my life and I told them if that’s how you prepare for a game and you carry that to the field, then you cannot lose. No matter what happens, you cannot lose,” Dooley said.
“I was down for a moment, but I still believed in the team.”
Showing great resolve late, the home team got its act together, first with a nifty pass from Iain Ramsay to a Kevin Ingreso header in the 73rd minute, followed up by the match-clinching penalty kick from Phil Younghusband at the 90th minute to formalize the squad’s entry to the continental showpiece next year in United Arab Emirates.
“That was our focus. Never give up,” said Dooley.
“Sometimes you can see a team was under pressure. Everything worked out but we just couldn’t finish. They scored 20 minutes before the end and a lot of the team would fall down. But our team did not. We stepped up, scored two goals, and we won.”
With this entry ticked off the bucket list, the Azkals now shift their attention to the bigger challenges ahead against Asia’s powerhouse teams.
But for Dooley, all he’s hoping for is to keep his post and lead the Philippines once again in those wars.
“I hope for a new contract,” he bared, whose contract is set to expire on March 31. “Then, we can plan about what the next schedule is. It will be nice if we do everything right and really have the same focus on what can we achieve in the summer time.”