Azkals' gameplan not enough against 'too good' Thailand and other takeaways from Suzuki Cup loss

The Philippines crashed out of the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup after a demoralizing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Group A favorites Thailand.

Suzuki Cup all-time leading scorer Teerasil Dangda scored off of quick Thai move on the left flank to put Thailand ahead at the half, before a fortuitous Patrick Reichelt goal in the 57th minute gave the Azkals a glimmer of hope.

But all Azkals hopes were dashed when Teerasil put away a penalty in the 78th minute, sending the Philippines out of the Suzuki Cup.

Here are five takeaways from this crushing Azkals defeat.

1. The Azkals had a gameplan against Thailand.

The Azkals came into the game knowing that only a victory would keep their chances of qualification alive, and they duly retooled their starting eleven with a clear game plan in mind.

With an eye on keeping things tight at the back with the flexibility for quick counters, the Azkals started with a 3-4-3 formation with Justin Baas, Amani Aguinaldo and Jesper Nyholm the three centerbacks.

After a strong performance against Timor-Leste, Angel Guirado got the start along with Iain Ramsay, while Bienve Maranon and Amin Nazari were demoted to the bench.

With Kevin Ingreso and Martin Steuble as center midfielders, the plan was to protect the spine of the team whilst trying to hit the Thais on the counterattack with Patrick Reichelt and Ramsay using their speed up the wings.

Stephan Schrock was to be the driving force in midfield.

2. …. but Thailand are too good.

The five times Suzuki Cup champions showed why they are strong favorites to lift the trophy as they dominated possession for long stretches during the game, seemingly toying with the Azkals with quick one-twos paired with quick movement off the ball.

In Theerathon Bumnathan, they have probably one of the best left-backs in Asia with most of the attacks going through him.

And with Chanathip Songkrasin dictating the ebb and flow of the Thai attack and the evergreen Teerasil Dangda banging in the goals, it was always going to be very difficult to beat Thailand.

Before the match, Thai Coach Mano Polking wasn’t particularly impressed with the Azkals shellacking of a hapless Timor-Leste side, and he would come out of the Azkals game justified in his thoughts.

It would be to no one’s surprise if Thailand reach the final of this Suzuki Cup and maybe win it all.

3. The Azkals were poor against Thailand.

If we are to be brutally honest with ourselves, the 2-1 score line does not reflect how lopsided of a game that was, as the gallant Azkals were always the second-best team on the pitch against the Thais.

Chasing shadows for most of the match, the Azkals barely had a sniff on goal and will be extremely grateful to standout goalkeeper Kevin Ray Mendoza for keeping the scores tight.

But with Thailand unable to put the game away, Patrick Reichelt struck a goal against the run of play.

Quickest to react after a poor Thailand clearance off of a free kick, Reichelt slotted home to give the Azkals the unlikeliest of lifelines.

But in the end, it was not to be as late substitutions could not save the day for the Azkals.

4. It still hurts.

We know that the Azkals’ preparations were less than ideal, to say the least.
We tempered our expectations.

We all knew about the player absentees, the injuries, and players not released by clubs.

But yet, we dared to hope and dream.

And in the end, when the inevitable happened, and the team was eliminated, it still hurt.

A lot.

Credit of course, have to be given to the players who came out and represented the country.

To Schrock, who left behind a heavily pregnant wife.

To Daisuke Sato, who played through despite nursing his grief after losing a father.

To Reichelt, who left his club Suphanburi to join the Azkals.

To Bienve, who chose to play for the Philippines.

And to the many other untold stories from players and staff who we will never hear about.

But that said, we can be grateful, but yet demanding results from the team.

While four semi-finals in the last six editions of the Suzuki Cup are not something to be scoffed at, the manner of the exit at this 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup certainly is certainly disappointing.

It is well and good that we are able beat Timor-Leste by a hundred goals, but the benchmark has to be about being able to consistently compete and beat the likes of Singapore and Thailand.

5. Have to regroup and come back stronger, yet again.

There are always going to be excuses for defeat, and there will be a ton of them with the exit of the Azkals in the tournament.

But as Coach Stewart Hall correctly pointed out, seven members of the U23 squad are currently with the team, no doubt soaking up valuable knowledge and experience.

And more importantly, it will be expected that come the FIFA international window in January 2022 when clubs can release international players, we will see very different names in the lineup.

But that is not to say that the young players present will be forgotten.

On the contrary, these young players on the squad, whether given the chance to play or not – are vital pieces of the future of the Azkals.

They will be the great hopes of Philippine football going forward.

—JMB, GMA News