Win or lose this Thursday, coach Michael Weiss of the men’s national football team said the Azkals have other competitions in the coming months and more opportunities to improve their level of play.
Right after the match the Azkals lost to Kuwait, Weiss acknowledged it will take some time for the Azkals to be as skilled as the Al-Azraq and will meet teams of other nations to get there.
“Kuwait's players' well-mapped-out positions and strategies made it difficult for us to defend. It would take another couple of years for us to reach… such a level. Next year, we will challenge India and North Korea and preparations will be needed to be made earlier," Weiss said, as quoted by Ricky Laxa of the Al Watan Daily, an English-language newspaper in Kuwait. http://alwatandaily.kuwait.tt/#
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Much more lies ahead for the Azkals beyond the match this Thursday. In a huddle with the media on July 3 at the Rizal stadium, Weiss laid out progression for the national team in its standing in the ASEAN Football Federation, and further down the road the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup.
Weiss stressed that the cohesion many have been looking for in the Azkals “will take time" and so he appealed for patience amid high expectations especially among the fans.
The Kuwait side has indicated that the admiration Azkals fans have for Weiss’ squad is not misplaced. Al-Azraq coach Goran Tefugdzic acknowledged in the post-match news conference that the Azkals were able to take advantage of spaces his team left open. He said his team was lucky that the Philippines attempts at the goal did not go in or it would have been tougher on Kuwait.
“We all can see the Filipino players are exceptional but Kuwait players have been seasoned by international competitions but in no time they will emerge as good players," Sheikh Duaij Al-Sabah of Kuwait’s royal family said, according to the Al Watan Daily.
Sheikh Duaij also thanked the thousands of Filipinos who cheered the Azkals on. The Kuwait Football Association noted through its official website that Filipinos made up more than 60 percent of the over 20,000 spectators at the Qadsia Club Stadium for the World Cup Qualifiers match.
A capacity home crowd is expected to fill the Rizal stadium this Thursday. Football fans have been waiting for official word from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) on reserved tickets that may be released for selling to the public.
Hoping for the best
Azkals team manager Dan Palami said via Twitter that the 3 – 0 loss to Kuwait in the away leg made the home game a “tougher job... but not really impossible." Defender Anton del Rosario said in a tweet that the next encounter with Kuwait will be a “steep climb — but anything’s possible"
“We really have to focus and play the best game of our lives," Jason Sabio said when the team arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as quoted by Rick Olivares, PFF media officer for the local organizing committee, in a post on his blog.
The second half of the Azkals’ home-and-away series in Round 2 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers will kick-off at 7 p.m. Team captain Aly Borromeo and midfielder Stephan Schrock are free to play again after serving their one-game suspension. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/227124/sports/fifa-azkals-borromeo-schrock-will-not-play-in-away-match-vs-kuwait
Away goals and penalty kicks
To win this Thursday and the series, the Azkals must score four more than Kuwait does during regular fulltime. It would not be enough to make 4 goals if Kuwait, for example, sends in just one goal because that one goal of Kuwait in their opponent’s turf is credited an additional "away goal" and is actually equivalent to two goals.
“If the aggregate score is equal after the second match, any goals scored at the ground of the opposing team will count double," according to the FIFA Laws of the Game.
If at fulltime the Azkals manage to keep Kuwait goalless and have also made 3 goals to equalize the 3 goals the Al-Azraq made on their home turf, the football rules allow for extra time to be played this Thursday, but the away goals rule still applies.
Again according to the Laws of the Game, if after two sets of extra time and the series scores are still tied, then the teams go into a sudden death battle of penalty kicks, which they take alternatingly. Both sides get five kicks. The first team that misses, loses the series and the victor moves onward to Round 3 of the qualifiers.
However, if after five kicks and neither is able to score or the scores are still tied, “kicks continue to be taken in the same order until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks." — VS
