I THINK we played very well, all 90 minutes. For me, we were the better team out there. We created more occasions.”
This was Azkals head coach Sven Goran Eriksson’s assessment of his team’s performance against Thailand last Wednesday evening at a post-match press conference, news clips of which were posted online.
The match numbers support his claim. And to everyone’s surprise, the Azkals did the most unlikely of things: dominate Thailand in possession 60 percent to 40. The Azkals’ passing accuracy was just as impressive: 88 percent to Thailand’s 78.
The hosts outshot the War Elephants as well: five of the 18 shots were on target, while the latter managed only two on target out of six attempts.
But in the end, what really mattered was the final score: 1-1, a draw that a relieved Thailand would think lucky to have earned.
One can only imagine what’s going through the Thai players’ and coaching staff’s heads right now. How can they, the defending champions and the most dominant team in the region, be dominated by a team from a country that regards football as an afterthought?
This game would haunt Thailand for years, but for now, the team should count itself lucky. Truth be told, it’s the Philippines that should rue all those missed chances. The match was for the Azkals’ taking, but no.
And yet Eriksson hardly seems flustered. This isn’t surprising, partly because when he took over, this Azkals team already had a system in place, one that was built over the years and driven by a football philosophy hinged on possession and adaptability. It’s a system he can obviously work with.
Disastrous as the Azkals’ 2016 Suzuki Cup campaign right on home soil was, such a system had been on full display back then against Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
The Philippines, then under Thomas Dooley, dominated its group stage opponents in 2016 except Thailand. And yet its dominance proved ineffective. Fast forward to October 2018: enter Eriksson with a shock takeover of the Azkals. Tweaking the system into something more potent, he assembles the most talented squad with the deepest bench he can find. Eriksson then discards Dooley’s 3-5-2 formation in favor of the erstwhile “outdated” 4-4-2.
The result by far? Two Azkals wins and a draw in this Group of Death. Sharing the top two slots in Group B with Thailand, the Philippines is just at least a draw away from advancing to the semifinal round. Standing in is its path is erratic but dangerous Indonesia, which, along with a hostile crowd, awaits the team this Sunday at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
Although now with zero chance of advancing, Indonesia can do Thailand and Singapore a favor by dragging the Philippines down with it. The Azkals, however, won’t let that happen.
And while they can opt to play negative football to secure a draw and earn a place in the knockout stage, the Azkals, I suspect, have marching orders from Eriksson to go for the jugular.