HOURS before the kickoff of the do-or-die encounter between the Philippines and Tajikistan, Dan Palami tries to shake off pre-match jitters over a cup of coffee at a hotel lobby. The Rizal Memorial Stadium, the match venue, was just a stone’s throw away. As the man who changed the landscape of philippine football when he took over as Azkals manager in 2009, Palami has experienced the team’s highs and lows. Fans milling at the lobby who wished Palami luck and took selfies with him somewhat eased his nerves.
Moments later, Neil Etheridge approached Palami. I congratulated Neil for his success at Cardiff City, where he’s been instrumental in the second-tier club’s solid bid for promotion to the Premier League. With ultra-competitive English football further honing his skills and boosting his confidence, Etheridge seemed relaxed as the Tajikistan match drew nearer by the minute.
An ebullient Misagh Bahadoran then appeared, and the discussion turned to the forward’s need to score. “If I score three goals, would you give me your AP watch?” Bahadoran told Palami. “Deal.” The two shook on it. Palami would be more than happy to let go of a watch in exchange for three goals.
Bahadoran didn’t score in the historic match (and Palami kept his watch), but his pesky runs up front helped tire the Tajik defense. Bahadoran had to give way to substitute James Younghusband whose arrival signaled a tactical shift. Kevin Ingresso, who only 10 minutes before had given up the penalty, redeemed himself with an equalizer off an Iain Ramsay cross, sending the Azkals supporters in a delirious frenzy at the stadium. Captain Philip Younghusband sealed the Philippines date with history by converting a last-minute penalty, his 50th international goal.
At the post-match press conference, Coach Thomas Dooley made a poignant gesture as he read one by one the names of all the Azkals players and praised their hard work. He also thanked the 12th man for turning up in numbers, reiterating how the home crowd inspires the players to do their, how their presence “gives us that extra speed to run 15 more paces.” With this massive result, Dooley said in jest he hopes his contract will be renewed. That shouldn’t be too hard a decision for Palami to make.
And so the Azkals will be heading to the United Arab Emirates for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. One might ask: Now what? Against the giants of Asian football, what chance do the Azkals have? Not much perhaps, but we can always dream and seek inspiration from those who went against all odds.
Shortly after the final whistle blew in Rizal, the Azkals players gathered in front of the stands to honor the fans, who, in turn, clapped to a familiar chant that rises to a cresendo: Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! It was the viking war chant of tiny Iceland’s giant-slaying national team. Witnessing this sight gave me goose bumps, as the conversation I had that pre-match afternoon with Dan Palami came to mind. Palami had mentioned Iceland, the team that have never qualified for the European Championships before but when they did, scalped England in the knockout stage of Euro 2016. “I want the Philippines to become the Iceland of the Asian Cup,” Palami, dreamer and visionary, mused. The team has less than a year to embark on this dream.”