Myanmar dominated offensively in the first half, but the Azkals’ defense stayed solid throughout the match held at the Hien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh.
Philippine coach Simon McMenemy’s squad, however, was dangerous after the half-time break, with at least 3 scoring attempts rattling the uprights and the crossbar.
The Myanmar goalkeeper was also kept busy by long-range strikes.
The Myanmar players were aggressive in the first half, but gradually lost steam.
The Philippines’ goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was a dominating presence in the 18-yard box.
The Azkals will face Indonesia in the Final 4. The other semifinal duel will be between Suzuki Cup defending champion Vietnam and Malaysia.
ABS-CBN Sports will air the games live on Studio 23.
No match in Philippines
Jose Mari Martinez, Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president, expects the Azkals to return to the Philippines on Thursday.
“They will continue to the semifinals in the 16th and 17th [of December],” he said.
Martinez said the Philippines could have had the privilege to host the semi-final matches, but will not be able to due to lack of facilities that suit international standards.
“The situation [now] is, we have to play in ‘away-and-away’ game. It cannot be held in the Philippines, it’s supposed to be a ‘home-and-away game,’ simply because we don’t have the facilities to take care of world sports. We cannot meet the international standard of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football),” said Martinez.
The AFF has allowed the Philippines to pick a neutral ground where they could play at least one leg of their semifinal match.
“A set of guidelines has to be met before a stadium can stage an AFF Suzuki Cup match and none of the proposed venues in the Philippines reached the required standard stipulated in the Hosting Obligations for the tournament,” the AFF said in a statement posted on the games’ website.
The AFF said the Philippines may choose to play one leg of their semi-final at a neutral venue or both legs in the country of their opposition.
“The Asean Football Federation would like to congratulate the Philippines for reaching the last four of the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time and wish them good luck in the semi-finals,” said the AFF.
Long way to recognition
The Philippines upset defending champion Vietnam last Sunday.
“Nobody ever thought that we could beat Vietnam. We keep on dreaming and we keep on dreaming we can do it,” said team manager Dan Palamin on ANC’s Rundown on Monday night.
Martinez also told ANC on Monday that the Philippine team has come a long way since the 1970’s when it first began, then again since 2004.
Martinez credited the team’s strong showing to years of developing the players and the country’s support.
“We have built this team to what it is today, and we’re on the right track with what were doing in football,” he said.
“We’re very well prepared for the finals. We looked at this three years ago and we geared ourselves to make sure the Philippines will be able to increase in terms of their positioning in their FIFA ranking, which we started 189 out of 208. Today, we can say we’re 151,” Martinez said. “With this win [vs Vietnam], we should drop to the level of less than 140, which we were targetting for the end of this year.”
“We’re very happy with the performance of the national team. Three years of hard work have paid off,” Martinez said.
Prospects bright
Martinez said prospects look bright for the country’s football players.
“We have a Philippine team in England playing in London, and they’ve got about 10 games, 8 wins and one loss. The second one, which is a surprise, would be that we have a stronger team coming out very soon which is going to represent our country in the Futsal competition. They are now number 4 in Southeast Asia, the coach is from Iran and they’re a team to reckon with,” he said.
Following the Philippine football team’s surprise showing, various politicians have called for greater support and priority to football, where height is not as important, unlike in the Filipino’s favorite sport, basketball. — with a report from Caroline Howard, ANC
I posted this comment at the other thread:
PH and Myanmar game ended in a scoreless draw. Did PH deliberately aim for a draw thereby avoiding injuries so that they could perform well in the semin-finals? Well, they’re up against the powerful Indonesia team. Whatever the outcome, it’s enough to see our team entering the semi.
For an exciting anotation of the game, check out the comments in the post, “Envoy’s account of PHL win over Vietnam in Asean Football Suzuki Cup tournament”. Courtesy of Anna and Tongue.
Baka matatanda na ang players natin, disqualified na naman if they bag the title, wink!
On the serious side; great for them and cheers!
Bravo to the team!
Good Job so far Team Philippines …. not being able to play a “home” game because of lack of a venue/stadium is a most embarrassing highlight of the neglect of football in our country over the years.
Bayonic, can you imagine the amount of money that was looted by Gloria and company? A very tiny fraction of the money they stole could have been spent on building a stadium.
P…. Gloria na yan.
About half of the team is composed of “international” players of Filipino-descent … I hope this reverse-migration trend in football as well as in other sports continue on and expand to academic, scientific, economic and entrepreneurial disciplines.
there is still a sizable contigent in the team from my hometown in Iloilo which has long been heralded as “the football capital of the Philippines”.
“PH and Myanmar game ended in a scoreless draw. Did PH deliberately aim for a draw thereby avoiding injuries so that they could perform well in the semin-finals? Well, they’re up against the powerful Indonesia team. Whatever the outcome, it’s enough to see our team entering the semi.”
no, there were a few good attempts from the RP. sayang yung isa kay araneta where i thought he was wide open pero his shot only hit the goal post. kung ibang bansa yan siguro score na yan.
the only chance the RP can be competitive in soccer is if we sent an all fil-foreign squad. and it’s going to be tough for them because fan support for soccer is almost nil in the philippines.
John, you mean in football? 😉
Anna, did you know that the goalkeeper, 6’3″ hunk Neil Etheridge, is a callup from Fulham? So is defender Rob Gier, from Ascot.
Defender Ray Anthony Jonssón from Iceland is a member of Knattspymurdeild UMFG.
Midfielders of foreign descent include Jason De Jong (Netherlands: BV Veendam), Mark Drinkuth (Düsseldorf, Germany: DJK Agon 08), and Chris Greatwich (Morristown, NJ: Morris County Colonials) who scored the lone goal in the PH vs. Singapore 1-1 opening match and the first goal in PH’s demolition of AFF Suzuki defending champs Vietnam 2-0; and James Joseph Younghusband (Middlesex, England: formerly with Chelsea FC for the youth and reserve teams).
The celebrated striker Philip James Younghusband, James’ younger bro, also released by Chelsea FC in 2008 completes the Fil-Foreign cast.
BTW John, your prediction was perfect. 0-0 you said just before the game. Congrats, bro.
Would you be willing to replace the octopus in her cage? Or maybe just a lotto combi will do. Lol.
yehey!!!gagawa na tayo ng football stadium,dagdag trabaho na naman para sa mga pinoy…sisikat na rin ang larong ito sa atin.
there is still a sizable contigent in the team from my hometown in Iloilo which has long been heralded as “the football capital of the Philippines”. – bayonic
Right. Thanks to the effort of of the Ilonggos in Iloilo and Negros, the football spirit is alive. Maybe Cebu, too. Barotac-Nuevo is envied by Manila football fans for their unrelenting support for the sport.
I believe the sport died in Manila when Ugarte Field in Ayala gave way to progress.
there is still a sizable contigent in the team from my hometown in Iloilo which has long been heralded as “the football capital of the Philippines”. – bayonic
Right. Thanks to the effort of of the Ilonggos in Iloilo and Negros, the football spirit is alive. Maybe Cebu, too. Barotac-Nuevo is envied by Manila football fans for their unrelenting support for the sport.
I believe the sport died in Manila when Ugarte Field in Ayala gave way to progress.
It’s sad that the Azkals have been denied a home court game due to the failure to meet AFF standards of their home court in Panaad, Bacolod. They will have to play either in a neutral AFF-accredited country or any of the home fields of countries in the semi-finals.
Now, we suck.
Read An official statement from the Philippine National Men’s Football Team from Bleachers’ Brew.
Tongue, Hilig mo pala ang football, soccer or kickball ba ang tawag diyan? Ignoramus ako diyan kasi birdies,par at bogey lang ang alam kong laro
Yun lang ang sport ko nung estudyante ako. Six-footer ang mga kaklase ko kaya di na ako nag-ambisyon sa basketball, di gaya ng maraming Pinoy, 5’1″ lang, gusto nang sumali sa liga, hahaha.
Saka yung mga paring Italyano at Aleman, pagka-hapon at uwian na, nasa field na, nakikipaglaro sa mga estudyante. E yung drayber namin laging late, kaya nagagalit yung Dad ko noon, kahit daw pasadya sa Glenmore yung leather shoes namin, laging sira. Di niya alam isinisipa namin ng football, hehe. Nakatikim lang ako ng spikes 2nd year na ako. Puma Argentina yata yun.
Masarap din mag-golf. Pang-matanda. Sabi nung anak ko, palo ka ng palo para lumayo tapos habol ka naman ng habol, hahaha.
the recent good results from the Philippine National Football team is heartwarming indeed to Filipinos who love the beautiful game.
this continues the remarkable yet unheralded performances by different Filipino football teams in recent memory.
i recall that just this year, we had a team composed of street children who became “World Champions” in a competition by beating Brazil.
years before, we have had grade school teams winning competitions beating teams from Europe.
in the early 80’s we’ve had had home-grown individuals who went on to play in second division leagues in Europe and Australia.
sad to say that our government got the priorities wrong even wen it comes to sports development and what is even sadder is that dirty politics rears its ugly head even in sports.
Tongue,
Holy tamales! Those are great highly reputed clubs in Europe!
Seems we’ve got an all-European team in Team Philippines… Must say, I’m all for it. I sure hope PFF keeps them. Magnificent thing of these kababayans (never mind if they’re half-baked Pinoys) to sweat it out for God and Pinas country. Truly, truly magnificent gesture.
And know what? That hunk of a goalkeeper impressed me. I thought he did a magnificent job in yesterday’s match. He reminded me a bit of Fabien Barthez at times — hehehe!)
(Very unfortunate that I couldn’t see who was who during yesterday’s match. I was watching an on line betting streamer so the screen ‘capture’ was really really tiny 3in x 3in at best — only saving grace was colour of their uniforms. :-D)
Now if we could borrow David Alaba from Bayern Munich, we would have a more than decent Pinoy club in Pinas.
Btw, Tongue, do you know where they plucked the coach from? OK, understand that he could only have been gotten from a list provided by FIFA Asia but who actually recommended him viva voce?
I enjoyed reading the tidbits about Philippine football history. Didn’t realise that RP had such glorious interest in football… Time to revive it!
This is getting to be more exciting by the minute. I really hope they bag a silver/finalist medal at the very least.
Whatever happens, Pinas must give them a hero’s welcome à la World Cup :-D, will do very well for the nation’s battered psyche and contribute a great deal to reviving FILIPIN FUTBOL!!!
Yessss!
Tongue, fellow futbol aficionados,
My turn to tell an anecdote 😉
(Ahem, ahem… hope am not going overboard branding miself a futbol aficionado/a 😛 — although I AM an Arsenal fan and a former Girondins de Bordeaux fan as well and a Real Madrid fan, and sometimes a ManU observer too…. OK, OK, am a fan of many more depending on which of my favourite players plays in which team – hikhikhik )
There was a national Filipin Futbol player but don’t know what position he played (think he was a goalie), who hogged the headlines in the late 80s or early 90s — dang, can’t remember exactly anymore) for doing a flying kick (hahaha flying futbol kick) on an opponent right in the face because he didn’t like the way the opponent fouled his teammate — do you guys remember that incident? Pity coz he was apparently a real budding talent but got axed because of the incident. His family name is Mari Castaneda, son of former Gen Castaneda (the saviour of Imeldific Marcos from a grenade thrown on stage!)
In support of Filipin Futbol and why the Filipins would do very well to adopt futbol as a national sport for international competition, allow me to re-print this bit of historical tidbit of mine which was published/included years ago by a columnist for one of the major broadsheets years ago…
i heard of neil etheridge when i was playing Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 for the PS2
pes.neoseeker.com/wiki/Fulham
(Above item was published right after the Asian Games in 2005)…
Following the Sipadan hostage crisis when Pinas became the tourism pariah of the world,I also recommended to Dick Gordon, who was Gloria’s DOT minister, to invite then just retired Zinedine Zidane to Pinas for a promotional, inspirational tour of sorts believing that if Zidane who enjoyed tremendous worldwide popularity at the time came and visit Pinas, the nation’s tourism pariah status would be reversed. Gordon liked the idea and “instructed” his team to go for it (sadly, he wanted it gratis et amore so no dice…)
I think this could still be done by the current admin, not so much for tourism purposes, but perhaps to revive Pinoys’ isnterest in futbol!
wow pinoy football. i remember football was also popular in the provinces when i was in high school. it was even included in the provincial games.
I’m not athletic but I enjoy reading sports stories. They are so alive.
I’m enjoying the “kwentuhan” here. I’m learning a lot.
This is from the link provided by Tongue (#16)
An official statement from the Philippine National Men’s Football Team
Mabuhay!
The Philippine National Men’s Football Team would like to offer to every Filipino this great triumph achieved in the football fields of Vietnam.
In the 14-history of the Suzuki Cup, the Philippines only qualified twice in the biennial competition that is at once the most prestigious tournament in the Asean region.
To get through the final rounds competition in Vietnam, we played three qualifying matches Laos where we finished second to the host country to advance to Vietnam.
And for the first time, we have advanced to the semifinals where the Philippines will play Indonesia in a home and away series where the winner, determined through the aggregate goal score, will play for the championship.
As we drew 1-1 with mighty Singapore and beat the defending champions Vietnam on their home turf 2-nil with 40,000 people in the stands cheering them on, we got word of how you, our fellow Filipinos watched us, cheered us, and sent us messages of support.
Believe us when we say that it was fantastic to hear and see all of that considering how the sport has largely gone unnoticed back home. We hope that this will be the start of football taking its rightful place as a premier sport In the Philippines.
As we drew Myanmar in a scoreless affair that saw us finish second to Vietnam in our Group, we received word that the Asean Football Federation has deemed that our homefield of Panaad, Bacolod to not be up to the requirements of the AFF Suzuki Cup after consultations with PFF President Jose Mari Martinez and therefore our hard-fought “home game” will be played either in a neutral venue or at the homefield of the other semis winner.
We deplore this decision that was arrived at without consulting the national team management team or even having the facilities inspected. We believe that this is an opportunity to provide Filipinos with a chance to watch some world-class football action that will inspire our countrymen to take up the sport and break new ground for the Philippines.
Just as you were all on our side when we were playing in Vietnam, we ask that every Filipino and football fan out there to express this indignation with regard to this decision in every venue, fora, or media so that we may treat the country to Azkals football. We implore you to express yourself on twitter, facebook, messenger, and everywhere else.
After all, the home field game is rightfully ours.
The Philippine National Men’s Football Team
Team Manager – Dan Palami, Head Coach – Simon McMenemy, Assistant Coaches – Edwin Cabalida, Edzel Bracamonte, Roland Piñero, Trainers — Wally Javier and Josef Malinay, Media Officer – Rick Olivares, and the players — Ian Araneta, Jerry Barbaso, Yanti Barsales, David Mark Basa, Joebel Bermejo, Alexander Borromeo, Emelio Caligdong, Christopher Camcam, Jason de Jong, Anton del Rosario, Neil Etheridge, Mark Ferrer, Roel Gener, Robert Gier, Christopher Greatwich, Peter Jaugan, Ray Jonsson, Nestor Margarse, Reymark Palmes, Kristopher Relucio, Eduard Sacapaño, James Younghusband, and Philip Younghusband.
From our ambassador to Vietnam Jerril Santos:
Kwento: It was heart-stopping to a certain extent. The team played well and there were goals missed because the ball hit the goalposts or the crossbar. Just the breaks of the game.
Myanmar players stood up to the challenge and the crowd was rooting for them. overall it was a good game but the crowd was relatively small as the game was overshadowed by the other game happening simultaneously at my dinh stadium in hanoi – Vietnam vs Singapore. Vietnam won that one, 1-0, and that sent millions into the streets of Hanoi in celebration.
Our players and support officials are happy with what they have done here and we should rightfully be proud of them.
Everywhere they went, they were treated with new-found respect.
I sent them off at the airport this morning. Some of them said “Sir, see you in a few days” referring to the possibility that the semifinal matches with Indonesia might occur in Vietnam as a neutral venue.
I am glad i managed to spend time with them, no matter how short and fleeting, during their games. They deserve all the support we can give.
The question is where the semi-final games are going to be held. PH is out ’cause our football fields are not at par with international standard. Sayang. Dapat may bagong football field na tayo na puwede natin ipagmalaki sa buong mundo.
sa vietnam daw, nag offer sila… sa kanila din lahat ng gastos… hehehe… ganyan tayo napagiwanan ng vietnam…
pero sana magkaron na nga tayo ng sariling international standard football field… tapos after 5 years siguro… daanin na lang sa football yung problema sa spratly… 🙂
Unlike basketball court kasi, we need a big space and lot for football field. Ang Rizal football stadium luma na. This impressive performance by our booters in Vietnam should wake up our sports officials and government in switching the attention to this sport from now on.
i remember in high school we used the ground where provincial athletic meets are being held. the 400 meter oval track and field area should be large enough and normally there are grandstands on at least two sides.it is not the playing field that can be a problem but the number of people that may come.in provincial athletic meets about 10000 is usual but i am not sure of the capacity and quality set up by the international football fed.
Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan re #28
This disunity between local football federation officials which has led to the non-holding of the semifinals game between Indonesia and the Philippines is such a shame.
Their ability to rise above their differences in the interest of both the sport and the nation is truly regrettable.
Here we have a golden opportunity to cheer our national team and foster national unity and pride and we have thrown it away because of petty bickering. It is this kind of selfish, petty promotion of personal interests over the national interest that has prevented our nation from truly progressing in various fields.
It makes one want to vomit in disgust. It is detestable and condemnable.
This is truly deplorable and those who sabotaged our chances of hosting the event should be made to commit harakiri. Nakakahiya ang ginawa nilang pagsabotahe sa nasabing hosting semi-finals match
Vietnam to host Philippine Azkals’ ‘home’ game
The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has formally accepted the offer of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to host the “home” game of the Philippines against Indonesia in the Vietnamese seaport city of Ho Chi Minh on December 16.
“We have notified the Asean Football Federation (AFF) that the Philippines has accepted the offer of the Vietnam Football Federation as the venue of our ‘home’ game against Indonesia,” PFF president Mariano Araneta announced Friday.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/12/10/10/vietnam-host-philippine-azkals-%E2%80%98home%E2%80%99-game
Rizal Football Stadium used to be the venue of some international football competitions such as Asian Youth Games. But that was many years and decades back. It’s about time we build a new modern facility to hold this event. In the beginning, we do not expect many fans to patronize the game of football compared to other sports like basketball. But after this great performance in Vietnam arousing the interest of many Filipinos, this sport may just become popular here.
Kiko’s statement about our officials bickering is well taken but let us ask Mr. Noted what he himself has done for the sport. He’s being kicked by his wife. That’s all we know.
PH accepted Vietnam’s offer mainly because of budget. Vietnam is willing to shoulder all the expenses. How embarrassing and what a shame! Mas mahirap na ba talaga tayo sa Vietnam ngayon?
Alam niyo ba na ang mga mahihirap na taga bansang Africa ay naglalaro ng football na nakapaa ng walang sapatos. Pero ang gagaling nila. Hindi naman tayo siguro kasing hirap tulad nila. Kaya may pag-asa talaga tayong umasenso sa football. Tama na ang boxing. Tama na si Pacquiao. Tama na ang basketball. Tama na ang PBA. Football naman tayo. Kung matatamaan at magagalit ang mga gamblers, well they can also gamble in football games. Malaki din ang mga tayo sa larong football ke sa Europe o Latin America. Iyon nga lang madalas umaabot sa violence.
Correction: malaki din ang taya (not tayo).
Sana walang sugal sa ano man laro. But this is the reality we all must face. Kasi iyan din ang nagpapainit sa laro. Mas may excitement kung may taya. As for now, if people would be betting on PH team, they would be betting on how many points or goals PH lose. In the future, let’s hope they would be betting on how many goals we make.
sa vietnam daw, nag offer sila… sa kanila din lahat ng gastos… hehehe… ganyan tayo napagiwanan ng vietnam… – perl
Nakakalungkot nga yan. Matapos nating insultuhin yung wine at gandang lalaki nila. Presidente pa mismo ng Vietnam ang nag-offer, pati 5-star hotel sagot din daw.
Hindi pala nakakalungkot. Nakakahiya!
Pero teka, di kaya isini-setup lang tayo para gulpihin sa pagkatalo nila? Lol.
What is disheartening is that the AFF only took the word of its recognized officer here, PFF’s Martinez, and never really inspected the field. They could have shown them the Barotac-Nuevo Stadium instead where the AFC qualifiers have been played. A football field is easy to setup in a matter of days, with the hacienderos of Bacolod raising the funds, if not, then there’s Charlie or Danding Cojuancgo who can foot the ball. I mean the bill.
We’ve been talking about sports all these years; about funds and about government support but nothing happens. And nothing’s gonna happens in the years to come unless we really take a serious look at our sport programs.
‘Yan, ‘yan kasi. Credit grabber wala naman palang suporta. Paanong sisigla ang football sa Pinas e yung ulo e wala namang concern kundi yung mga biyahe at pondo lang. Sige banatan pa ninyo Azkals, kung meron, baka tamaan ng hiya. Liban kung walanghiya.
More here.
Who knows, Sab-it can one day claim he’s one of the reasons Mani Pakyaw is an unprecented champion in eight weight class. Unheard of and impossible to break. Sab-it can always say he was Roach’s secret assistant, hehe….
OT: Cocoy’s Delight blog is still breathing…heartbeat is about 5 beats per minute, wink!
Whaaat?
Tongue, and the PFF’s Martinez is still PFF head?