Azkals looking to reach the Challenge Cup final for the first time

After beating India, coach Michael Weiss promised an even better performance against Tajikistan—the most successful team in the AFC Challenge Cup after winning the inaugural edition in 2006 and had second and third place finishes in the last two editions.

 

On Tuesday, March 13, the Azkals came out and did just that with two second-half goals which overshadowed Tajikistan's controversial opening sttike that pushed the Philippines to a Challenge Cup semifinals date with 2010 runners-up Turkmenistan.

 

Turkmenistan

 

Defeating 2008 champions India, 2-0, and 2006 titlists Tajikistan, 2-1, the Philippines now face an equally formidable Turkmenistan side. Turkmenistan topped Group A on goal difference, ahead of Palestine, following a 3-1 win over the Maldives—a 3-0 winner over Nepal and was held by Palestine to a scoreless draw.

 

That shouldn't be a cause of alarm for the Philippines too much, though, as the Azkals cruised to a 4-0 blanking of Nepal back in October last year and drew with Palestine, 1-1, in the Challenge Cup Group Qualifiers. On current form the Azkals have been improving rapidly too.

 

Turkmenistan is probably the best team in the tournament never to win the competition but they've fallen an astonishing 17 places in the FIFA world rankings in the last month and are now 166th. That's because they didn't play in any games in February and did not FIFA give them ranking points for 2011 despite Turkmenistan beating Pakistan and Taiwan in the Challenge Cup qualifiers that same year.

 

The ELO ratings have Turkmenistan 113th in the world compared to the Philippines at 172nd, up from 179th at the start of the tournament. The Philippines are also once more the most improved country in the world over the last year adding 140 ELO ratings points, and further progress can be expected.

 

Fairytale

 

There is still a gap in the expected quality of the teams but if they do make it through to the final the Azkals will owe none of their success to luck as they will have faced the four toughest teams in the competition.

 

Facing all three former Champions in the group stage and do more than hold their own is an incredible feat. To reach the semifinals has at least matched the success of the 2010 Suzuki Cup and given the leap in performances from the Azkals, and the higher quality opposition involved, it may well have surpassed that feat.

 

The Philippines started from the lowest possible place too, having to vie for the qualifying stage, something reserved for the smallest eight footballing nations in the tournament. After beating Mongolia, 3-2 on aggregate, the Philippines faced a strong group including hosts Myanmar, Bangladesh and fellow semifinalists Palestine.

 

After successive draws against Myanmar and Palestine, the Philippines emphatically beat Bangladesh to become the only side to qualify from the both the knockout and group stages of the tournament. Now, of course, they're the only team to play in every single round of the competition, facing either a final or a third place playoff game after this semis match.

 

Expectations

 

With the Azkals surpassing expectations in qualifying for the semis, they are still the underdogs. A moniker that seems to inspire rather than intimidate the team, you can expect that they'll give it their all against Turkmenistan on Friday.

 

However, the team will be without James Younghusband and Angel Guirado, who were instrumental in both victories, as they picked up two yellow cards in the group stage and are suspended. That will make it just that little bit harder for the team with Chieffy Caligdong still nursing an injury.

Analysts and fans would therefore keenly peruse the first 11 line up coach Michael Weiss will field on Friday to see the adjustments he will make to compensate for the absence of Guirado and  the older Younghusband.  

Meanwhile, in the other semis encounter, tournament favorites North Korea will face Palestine, which with a small population and its politics, is also on somewhat of a fairytale run. If Palestine wins that duel, it could face the Philippines in the final. The winners of the tournament gets an automatic slot in the 2015 Asian Cup, the goal Weiss had in mind ever since his team's win against Nepal.

 

Joint top scorer Phil Younghusband will be the focal point of the Azkals' attacks and the team will have to play some excellent football as well as show the spirit and heart they're known for, but over the course of 90 minutes anything is possible.

 

It's not quite an all or nothing match, given that the Philippines picked up many accolades on their Challenge Cup run, but a win here would certainly be an impressive result. — JVP/ELR, GMA News