ALAM celebrates Azkals' historic victory
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| Azkals celebrate a goal against Tajikistan |
ALAM celebrates Azkals' historic victory
Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) celebrates the victory of Azkals over former champion Tajikistan, 2-1, to claim one of the four semifinals berths in the AFC Challenge Cup, the biggest and the most prestigious football tournament in Asia that will also serve as a basis who should go to the World Cup representing Asia.
With the victory, the Philippines finished second to defending champion North Korea in Group B.
In Group A, Turkmenistan finished first and Palestine claimed the second spot.
The Azkals will battle Turkeministan on March 16 at 14:30 p.m. at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal for a finals seat.
North Korea will face Palestine on the same day at 18:30 p.m. at the same stadium.
Read and enjoy the story of Cedelf P. Tupas of Philippine Daily Inquirer reproduced below. A quick schedule table and game results are pasted thereafter.
Amazing Azkals make history
KATHMANDU—The journey of Mt. Everest-like
proportions continues for the Philippine Azkals here. Along the way, a
squad growing in strength with every game is making history.
Displaying the resiliency and fighting
heart that the team has been known for, the Azkals came back from a goal
down to nip Tajikistan, 2-1, Tuesday and reach the semifinals of the
AFC Challenge Cup for the first time at the Halchowk Stadium.
Strikers Phil Younghusband and Angel
Guirado struck in a sensational second half as the Azkals, hounded by a
sexual harassment controversy back home, responded resoundingly from a
halftime deficit to eliminate one of the fancied sides in the
tournament.
As the final whistle was blown, the
Azkals formed themselves into a circle at the touchline and celebrated
their biggest accomplishment yet since reaching the semifinals of the
Suzuki Cup in Vietnam in December 2010.
The ecstatic players hugged each other,
while captain Chieffy Caligdong raised the Philippine flag in front of a
group of Filipinos who braved the chill to support the team.
The Filipino fans later sang the national
anthem as the players whooped it up with a celebratory dive on the
field with a rainbow serving as a fitting backdrop to one of the
Philippines’ greatest moments in the sport.
Azkals manager Dan Palami, soaking wet from all the celebration, was at a loss for words.
“It’s unbelievable,” Palami said.
Nothing short of spectacular
The Azkals’ run has been nothing short of spectacular. They needed to go
through prequalifying, winning over Mongolia in a two-leg affair,
before hurdling the qualifying round in Myanmar last year.
Before they left Manila, Guirado and
Lexton Moy were accused of sexual harassment for their conduct during a
match with Malaysia last Feb. 29 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The odds were certainly stacked against
the Azkals as they were also grouped with former champions North Korea
and India. But the Azkals rose above adversity, even after going into
halftime a goal down.
“I’m proud of this team,” said the
Azkals’ German coach Michael Weiss. “This is not only fantastic, but a
victory most deserved.”
The Azkals created the clear-chances in
the first half, but the Tajiks took the lead through defender Negmatov
Alexey’s header off a corner in the first minute of first-half injury
time.
Caligdong looked to have cleared the ball
from going past the line and Japanese referee Ryuji Sato had to discuss
the play with the linesman before awarding the goal to the Tajiks.
Tajikistan was on the front foot in the
early stages in the second half, but it was the Azkals who made the most
out of their chance in the 54th minute.
Guirado did well to keep the attack going
and sent a low cross for Younghusband. With Tajik keeper Alisher
Tuychiev already beaten, Younghusband slotted it into an empty net for
the equalizer.
Looming penalty shootout
Guirado earlier came close with a header that went over in the first
half. And just when it looked like a penalty shootout was looming, the
Filipino-Spanish forward rose above his defender and found the bottom
corner to make it 2-1, 10 minutes from time.
Phil and James Younghusband and Paul
Mulders came close to adding to the tally late in the match as the
Azkals finished with a flourish.
Picking up from where they left off in
the 2-nil win over former champion India, the Azkals started lively with
Phil Younghusband coming close in the eighth minute with a shot from a
tight angle that was saved.
Tajikistan enjoyed a good stretch of
possession in the first half, but couldn’t craft a clear-cut chance as
Carli de Murga, Ray Jonsson, Jason Sabio, Rob Gier and Juani Guirado
proved more than equal to the challenge.
Neil Etheridge was called into action
with an early clearance, but apart from that he was hardly troubled and
was a commanding presence.
“You have to hand it to the guys, they
played like there was no tomorrow and the results just came,” said
Palami. “There’s talent here but they played with their hearts out.”
TABLE OF SCHEDULE OF GAMES & RESULTS:
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