Azkals dreaming big after making history

KATHMANDU—Two wins.

That’s what separates the Philippines from bagging the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, whose champion gets an automatic berth in the prestigious AFC Asian Cup in 2015 in Australia.

The job will be easier said than done though for the Azkals, who came here as the lowest-seeded squad and brought down a couple of former champions to make the semifinals for the first time.

Standing in the way of the Azkals in the semifinals on Friday is 2010 finalist Turkmenistan, which defeated the Philippines, 5-0, in 2008 and blitzed past Nepal and Maldives to gain top seed in Group A here.

The Azkals, relying on swift counter-attack football, have turned out to be the surprise package of the tournament in this laid-back city in the Himalayas.

A 0-2 loss to defending champion North Korea was followed by a resounding 2-nil drubbing of India and a come-from-behind 2-1 tripping of another former champion in Tajikistan.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss and manager Dan Palami moved to temper the expectations after the back-to-back victories.

“I know the people and the mentality [of the team]. They are proud. They are extremely excited and cool at the same time in order to win it,” said Weiss, whose squad was treated to a sumptuous dinner by India-based Filipino diplomats at a restaurant in the city’s tourism district of Thamel.

Match bans

The Azkals will miss two key players for the clash against Turkmenistan with James Younghusband and Angel Guirado suspended for yellow cards against North Korea and Tajikistan.

Defending champion North Korea and Palestine—two teams that were billed to go further in the tournament—will dispute the other semifinal berth at the Dashrath Stadium with the winner advancing to the final on Sunday.

Regardless of the result on Friday, the Azkals are sure to play on Sunday.

While the Challenge Cup is for less-developed football nations, the Asian Cup features the biggest squads in the continent like Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Save for a few minor knocks on Jason Sabio (knee) and Juani Guirado (thigh), the Azkals, who were given a free day yesterday, remain free of health concerns in the leadup to their biggest match since they faced Kuwait in the second round of World Cup Qualifying.

Weiss has ruled out recalling more players to the side, particularly Fil-Danish leftback Dennis Cagara, who recently signed with FSV Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga.

“It affects the team but we have to cope with it,” said Weiss of the impending absence of his two wingers. “But we have fantastic spirit and the players are performing over their level. We can even make it with this group.”

Except for the World Cup Qualifying, the Azkals have actually managed to produce the results needed in major tournaments and Weiss could not help but draw parallelisms to his own national team—Germany, which has reached the semifinals of the last two World Cups and the final of the European Cup.

“We’re like Germany. We do well in major tournaments,” said Weiss.

“The first two games are scrappy, but then they find their rhythm and get into the competition. So obviously the Philippines is a competition team.”

The Azkals lost a series of exhibition matches against Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy, CF Madrid, Incheon Citizen and the Olympic teams of Uzbekistan and Australia before seeing action here.

“When our backs are against the wall, we manage to pull through and that’s what has endeared this team to its fans,” said Palami.

Weiss said that the task is by no means easier: “It grows with every bigger task. So the next task is bigger than Tajikistan, which is Turkeministan.”