PH Azkals force scoreless draw

SHAH ALAM—Stalemates against pedigreed sides often brought delight to the Philippines in the past.

But despite giving Suzuki Cup champion Malaysia all that it can handle Friday night in a scoreless standoff at the Shah Alam Stadium, the Azkals were left ruing the missed opportunity of pulling off another upset that could have enhanced their growing reputation in the region.

Parading new combination of players who had only two training sessions together, the Azkals valiantly held their ground in the face of the home side’s relentless attacks in the second half, while putting what was considered a stronger Malaysian team than the one they drew with in Manila three months ago on their heels for most of the opening half.

“It really just goes to show how far we’ve come when the team becomes disappointed by drawing against the Suzuki Cup champions,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “It was a very tough match.”

The match that drew about 15,000 spectators had few clear-cut chances, which mostly belonged to Malaysia in the second half.

Fil-German goalkeeper Roland Muller had a solid outing and the Azkals survived the pressure, while Stephan Schrock pulled the strings at midfield early in the opening half.

The Azkals were missing key players in Neil Etheridge and Phil and James Younghusband, who are all expected to return for the clash against Indonesia on Tuesday.

Denis Wolf, the scorer in the 1-1 draw against Malaysia in Manila, could not duplicate his exploits, narrowly missing on a left-footed effort in the 34th minute after a flowing move that started with Schrock’s free kick and Juani Guirado’s quick through ball.

Paul Mulders also had a bullet of a volley barely going over, after getting a layoff from Wolf in the 14th minute. Substitute Marwin Angeles sent a low shot from just outside the wide after recovering the ball at midfield, and Angel Guirado caused problems with his physical presence going forward and nearly set up Schrock for a goal.

“In some respects it was a good performance,” said defender Rob Gier, who wore the captain’s armband for the remainder of the match when Chieffy Caligdong was substituted in the 55th minute. “We rode our luck a couple of times, but we also had a couple of good opportunities ourselves which showed the quality of the team.”

Malaysia couldn’t cash in on their opportunities as Muller and the Azkals defense proved equal to the challenge.

The best among Muller’s crucial saves came in the first half stoppage time when he went full stretch to punch Shahurain Abu Samah’s shot into the post. Gier also blocked Safiq Rahim’s effort when Muller was beaten early in the second half.

Rahim was a thorn for the Azkals side, but he blew three chances with the goal at his mercy as he combined well with strikers Safee Sali and Idlan Talaha.

Philippines coach Michael Weiss vowed for a better performance for the Azkals on Tuesday. “Automatically, the cohesion will be better,” Weiss said. “The defense was solid and compact. But we have to be more determined in front of the goal.”