CUBAO, Philippines — Two days removed from a frustrating opening match, the Philippines national team is mired in a must-win situation against Indonesia when the second day of the AFF Suzuki Cup Group A competition resumes on Tuesday at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue.
Against a 10-man Singapore last Saturday, the Azkals failed to secure a result and garnered a nil-nil result. On the other hand, tournament favorites and defending champion Thailand relied on a hat trick from Teerasil Dangda to beat Indonesia, 4-2, and take an early lead.
Kickoff of the Philippines-Indonesia tiff is at 8:00 p.m., while the Thailand-Singapore match opens the day’s tilts at 4:30 p.m.
Coach Thomas Dooley said that their match against the Lion City nationals was “disappointing” but sees his players bouncing back.
“It’s a bit disappointing playing against 10-man for most of the time and we couldn’t score a goal,” said Dooley. “But they parked the bus in front of the goal, it’s part of the game, I don’t like it, but we had 2-3 chances to score. We should have played a bit more over the weeks. You could see every time we tried to play over the wings, we were dangerous.”
“It is a must win game against the Indonesians,” he added. “My chance against Indonesia is the same like most people. Hope they play a bit more offensively, we have to play better, be a bit more concentrated, create a couple more chances. Their game against Thailand was very interesting and they’re very strong.”
The team will have midfielder Martin Steuble back in the fold for the match after serving a one-game suspension. The Fil-Swiss was booked with two yellow cards and was sent off in their semi-final match against Thailand last 2014. Diego de la Paz / Eagle News Service
