Bjorn Kristensen mimics a baseball player taking a swing after scoring the winning goal. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Amid the emotional scenes after securing the Philippines’ return trip to the semifinals of the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup, coach Albert Capellas reminded everyone that the job was far from finished.
“And now, everything gets tougher,” Capellas told his players in the post-match huddle after the national men’s football team’s dramatic 1-0 win over Indonesia that set up a difficult task in two-time reigning titleholder Thailand.
But Capellas was also quick to raise his squad’s confidence after a hard-earned result at Surakarta’s Manahan Stadium negated the frustrations of three consecutive draws that almost put their dreams of playing football beyond Christmas in danger.
“Belief in yourself,” he concluded before the celebration continued to mark the occasion of getting to the last four of the prestigious tournament for the first time since 2018.
How the Philippines got to the semis wasn’t ideal, especially with own goals, offside flags and set-piece miscues made victory so elusive. But anyone from the group will take it for what it is.
“The last few games, luck hasn’t been on our side. But today, we made our own luck,” goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad said after his Man of the Match performance that came after subbing in for an injured Patrick Deyto almost 10 minutes into the contest.
After admitting that “it really sinked in after I touched the first ball,” Kammeraad shook off the cobwebs of his Philippine debut and made key stops to ably support an industrious backline led by veteran captain Amani Aguinaldo.
Sort of having a hand
Aguinaldo also had a hand, sort of, in putting the Philippines at an advantage in terms of manpower when he got into an altercation with Muhammad Ferrari, who was sent off with a red card that put Indonesia down to 10 men.
Kammeraad, Aguinaldo and the rest of the Filipino squad eventually got rewarded when Bjorn Kristensen’s 63rd-minute spot kick pushed them to the lead, taking advantage of a handball call against Indonesia when Paul Tabinas’ cross hit Dony Pamungkas’ arm inside the box.
Kristensen celebrated by mimicking a baseball player knocking one out of the ballpark. The lead stood until the final whistle, prompting Aguinaldo and Sandro Reyes to let out all their emotions.
The win allowed a Philippine side weary after playing all group-stage matches in a span of 12 days to secure second in Group B with six points, dislodging Indonesia and Myanmar, which absorbed a 5-0 loss to group winner Vietnam also on Saturday.
That meant the Philippines can now shift its attention to the next ambitious goal: beat Thailand over two legs on Dec. 27 at Rizal Memorial Stadium and Dec. 30 in Bangkok to secure a breakthrough spot in the finals.
Thailand emerged as Group A winner after getting the full three points in all four matches, showing why it is favored to claim a successive third Asean Championship and a record-extending eighth overall despite some scares against Singapore and Cambodia.
The last time the two countries met was in Thailand’s King’s Cup, a pocket tournament held during the Fifa window in mid-October when the hosts prevailed 3-1, but not after the War Elephants responded from Kristensen’s stunning equalizer with two goals from Suphanat Mueanta.
This time, bigger things are at stake. INQ