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Azkals draw with Malaysia anew in Dooley’s first home game


The Azkals' starting lineup for this friendly versus Malaysia. Ramon Lindo


(Updated 7:01am) One. More. Time.

The Philippines versus Malaysia friendly once again ended in a draw, this time a scoreless 0-0 affair, Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Complex, in the fourth time in as many matches since 2012.

Played in front of a capacity crowd at the Abellana Field, the Azkals were brilliant in the first half but failed to score despite numerous chances.

Azkals Coach Thomas Dooley sent in group as his Starting XI, perhaps owing to the absences of several key players. Phil Younghusband and Jeffrey Christiaens were out of the running for the Malaysia match because of injuries, while Rob Gier and Juani Guirado were unavailable to fly in. It was an almost all Philippines-based Starting XI: Patrick Deyto in goal, plus Daisuke Sato, Anton del Rosario, Jerry Lucena, Simone Rota, Jason de Jong, Martin Steuble, James Younghusband, Patrick Reichelt, OJ Porteria, and Balot Doctora.

It was all Azkals very early in the first half, with the ball spending almost all of the first 10 minutes on the Malaysian side. When Harimau Malaya — the Malaysian side’s nickname — finally had an attempt, Deyto ably saved the ball.

Every single attack, attempt, and save by the Azkals was met by intense cheering from the home crowd. And there were more than a few tries by the Azkals, including from Doctora, Reichelt, and de Jong.

Super-sub Nate Burkey came on and immediately made his attacking presence felt. Ramon Lindo
At the 40th minute, a corner from Sato found Steuble far up the field. Steuble sent the ball goal-ward but it went over the crossbar. Three minutes later, an attempt by Porteria also went over the bar.

As the game went into the halftime break, it was clear that the Harimau Malaya would defend as adamantly as the Azkals would try for goals, the only question was what would give first?

Dooley did not send in any substitutions as the half, and the Azkals came in with the same ferocity as the first half.

At the 50th minute, De Jong took a free kick that found Steuble, who, at the first touch, sent it towards the goal, but the ball went just inches wide. Then it was Doctora with a couple of chances, but the rather vertically-challenged forward could not shake his defender, who stood about a foot taller than him.

The Azkals coach then started sending in his substitutions, starting with Chris Greatwich for de Jong, followed by Curt Dizon for Younghusband five minutes later, and then Carlie de Murga on for a cramped up simone Rota at the 67th minute. This was Carlie’s first appearance for the Azkals in nine months, after getting injured during the UFL preseason.

The substitutes injected more energy into the game, which had also turned a little more physical. Steuble and Malaysia’s Mahali Jasuli got into a little spat, and captain del Rosario also got into the argument. The three players ended their little pow-wow after the referee got involved.

With 20 minutes left in the game, Dooley sent in Nate Burkey to replace Porteria. Burkey had three successive attempts about two minutes apart. A particularly heart-breaking unsuccessful attempt looked like it would definitely go in and was already too high for the keeper, but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

At the 78th minute, Jovin Bedic, another new face on the squad, came on for Reichelt. Kenshiro Daniels entered the game at the 86th for Doctora.

Patrick Deyto ensures the Azkals go away with a clean sheet. Ramon Lindo
And then the referee blew his whistle right at the 90th minute. There was a little bit of confusion about his call, and he briefly conferred with the linesman before pointing to the spot. A penalty on a hand ball by del Rosario led to Safee Sali taking the penalty kick. Deyto, who had just had a miscommunication with his defense a couple of minutes earlier, was able to tip the ball wide, denying Malaysia the goal.

Four minutes were added to the game, and when the referee finally whistled the end of the game, it was still zero and zero for the Philippines and Malaysia.  

Despite this being the fourth draw in a row between the two sides, Malaysian coach Datuk Ong Swee said that this was a different game than the one played in Kuala Lumpur in March.

“They have improved, they played better than they played in Kuala Lumpur,” said the coach. Malaysia, for their part, played a more defensive team than last March, as they anticipated a more offensive-minded Philippine team, since this was the Azkals home game.

The Malaysian coach had good words for Deyto, saying that he played tremendously well both in Kuala Lumpur and Cebu. He also cited Steuble and de Jong as very impressive. He conceded, however, that both teams seemed to lack sharpness in front of the goal.

The Malaysian press seemed more disappointed in their team, and asked some pretty pointed questions about Safee Sali and the missed penalty, seemingly questioning his commitment and skill. They asked their questions to their coach in Malaysian and there was no translator on hand.

Coach Dooley, for his part said that he was happy with game. “I was [also] happy with the way we played in March, [but] we attacked more today. We deserved to win this game.”

He added that as far as preparation for the Challenge Cup, “It was very good for us to play a home game, but we missed a few players.”

Asked whether he would bring the same set of players to the Maldives, Dooley maintained that he could decide later on but that he was glad that he was able to see about 30 players before the camp. “But,” the coach added, “our style of play won't change.”

“We played with heart, we played good football.” - AMD, GMA News



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