Post game thoughts on Azkals vs Guam

THE Philippine Azkals started their quest for the first ever Philippine Football Peace Cup on Wednesday with an emphatic 1-0 victory over Guam last night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Substitute Patrick Reichelt, a Fil-German substitute, scored on a header to carry the Azkals to a win.

In that game, we witnessed a new-look Azkals in the pitch and coach Hans Michael Weiss experimented with his veterans midfield Chieffy Caligdong and Ian Araneta up front and goalkeeper Eduard Sacapaño secured the post while inserting prized recruit Demetrius Omphroy displayed tremendous dexterity that produced several runs for the Azkals which our strikers failed to convert.

What do we expect from this Azkals line up?

1. Prize Finds. Demetrius Omphroy and Patrick Reichelt made a very memorable debut in international in front of Filipino supporters by displaying their talents in the field. Coach Weiss and the management should be credited for finding a diamond in this duo. Omphroy made several outstanding passes for our strikers Caligdong, Araneta and Misagh Bahadoran.

Unfortunately, all of them failed to convert on golden opportunities. This is the first time that this line up is tested and we saw several miscues due to lack of communication. Marwin Angeles provided some spark in the middle showing his youth and power.

2. No Veterans. The Azkal's line up will be tested by low ranked teams in this four-nation tournament missing the services of regular keeper Neil Etheridge, brothers Phil and James Younghusband, Angel Guirado, Rob Geir, Stephan Shrock and Anton del Rosario. Despite of this challenge coach Weiss managed to make the best of the team by choosing the players available. Giving our bench a chance to play for the national team is truly an honor and they will give their best all the time. This will give them confidence along the way and hopefully will fill in the void left by our more familiar players. Carli de Murga made his presence felt as well as Jason de Jong controlling the back end.

3. Stop Sacapaño. The biggest revelation of last night's game against Guam is goal keeper Eduard Sacapaño who foiled every attack by the Guam side. His decision in coming forward and sacrificing his body to protect the ball was point taken and it's the reason why the Azkals withstood the challenge of the Guam forwards. If he will maintain this attitude for the duration of the tournament we expect the Azkals to be at the top. Sacapano's effort would have been paid off if Chieffy, Ian and Misagh did not misfire in their attempts. For me, the man of the match belongs to our GK Sacapaño. (Jun-Jun Carballo/Contributor)