WITH so many changes in the squad, last night’s win against Singapore was a great start for us in the Suzuki Cup, which we hosted in 2016 but failed to get out of the group stage.
It was also Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first time as manager of the team and as expected his stint with the team is getting the Azkals extra mileage in British papers. However, it is interesting to note that at times it was Chris Greatwich who was at the sideline, shouting instructions to the team.
With only a six-month initial contract, members of the coaching staff will benefit a lot from learning from such an experienced manager such as Eriksson, who led England in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup.
The first half was sort of a feel-out round for the team, which was playing together for the first time against a Singapore side that beat Indonesia. It wasn’t pretty and there were obvious gaps in communication normal for a squad that is just getting to know some of its members.
The second half though, was better and Phil Younghusband had a rifle of a chance before Argao’s own Patrick Reichelt delivered with 12 minutes left to play.
Up next for the Azkals is tournament minnows Timor Leste, which lost to Indonesia, 3-1, also last Tuesday night. We will host Thailand next before closing out our group stage with a visit to Gelora Bung Karno.
Winning the first two matches will be a huge confidence boost before we take on the dangerous Thais, who have won the last two editions of the tournament.
We had Neil Etheridge and Daisuke Sato for the Singapore game but I’m not sure if they will be back for the Thailand game. Still, the new format may have us fielding a different set of players per game but at least some of the match days fall on Fifa windows, allowing Etheridge and Sato to suit up.
You have to admire these two guys, traveling for so many hours after their club duties to play for the country.
We last made the semifinal of this tournament in 2014, but lost to eventual champion Thailand. In 2012, we lost in the semis by one goal to Singapore, which also went on to beat Thailand to win the title.
Some are saying that this could be our year but I think we are going to see if that would be the case when we meet Thailand in Panaad next week.