Shaky win raises questions as crucial match looms

After a shaky 3-2 win against Fiji Thursday night, the Philippine Azkals head into a crucial game against a much more superior Tajikistan squad on the wings of victory, but with a lot of questions to answer.

Phil Younghusband grabbed his 49th international goal with a first half penalty, while substitutes Pika Minegishi and Kevin Ingreso scored in the second half, but the Azkals conceded twice in the last 15 minutes, raising doubts on their defense again.

Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said the friendly at Rizal Memorial Coliseum served its purpose as he saw aspects of his team’s game that need to be addressed heading into the duel with Tajikistan on Tuesday, when the Filipinos only need a draw to advance to the AFC Asian Cup next year.

“We always want to see new players dealing with the pressures of being in the game,” said Dooley. “If we can deal with it now, we can deal with it next time.”

The Azkals won’t have that luxury of making mistakes against the Tajiks, who nearly completed a comeback against them in their first meeting last June in Dushanbe, where the Philippines won, 4-3.

“Against Tajikistan, we would have paid a lot for some other mistakes that we committed,” said Azkals team manager Dan Palami. “Certainly it’s a cause for concern. But I can understand, you change five players in the second half, it will take a while, the momentum coming in from the first half was really cut.”

Dooley made four changes at halftime and also substituted Ingreso after he scored the team’s third goal in the 61st minute. Fiji gave the Azkals problems after that.

“We concede one goal and all of a sudden everyone is shaken so we have to control the game from the beginning up until the last whistle,” said veteran defender Carli de Murga.