By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE VICTORY last week and eventual entry of the Philippine national men’s football team into the 2019 AFC Asian Cup was truly a welcome development in more ways than one, this according to one local football writer and analyst.
A 2-1 victor over Tajikistan in their final Asian Cup Qualifiers group match on March 27, the Philippine Azkals booked a historic, first-ever spot in the prestigious continental football tournament happening in the United Arab Emirates next year.
The Philippines joins 23 other nations which proved their worth to be part of the quadrennial football meet.
In beating Tajikistan, the Philippines had to muster much determination and poise after going down early in the second half.
Kevin Ingreso and Phil Younghusband provided the goals for the Azkals to pull the rug from under Tajikistan en route to booking a spot in the AFC Asian Cup as Group F winners with a 3-3-0 record and 12 points.
Considering how the Azkals have had it rough in major tournaments of late, including in the Challenge Cup and the AFF Suzuki Cup, football analyst Lorenzo Del Carmen said the Philippines’ latest victory took an even bigger significance, particularly in channelling attention anew to football in the country.
“I think the sport got some much-needed buzz after the Azkals’ win,” said Mr. Del Carmen, who writes for local site Tiebreaker Times, when asked by BusinessWorld for his thoughts on the Azkals’ win.
“Filipinos want to watch their teams win and every big Azkals win will revive attention to the sport. I mean after the game, all media outlets had at least one story on the Azkals win. It’s been a while since that happened,” he added.
Mr. Del Carmen also agreed in the post-game assessment of Azkals coach Thomas Dooley that the win was a direct result of things coming together for the team.
“I believe so. As they say, the stars aligned for us that night. Kevin Ingreso played villain then hero, Phil Younghusband scored his 50th [international] goal, [defenders] Simone Rota and Carli de Murga played really well the whole night. It was a perfect evening for the Azkals,” the football analyst said
In the AFC Asian Cup, happening from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1, 2019, the Azkals are part of the roster of combatants along with host UAE, Qatar, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, China, Palestine, Oman, India, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea and Yemen.
Draw for the tournament is set for May 4 this year.
As per tournament format, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams and the four best third teams will advance to the round of 16. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal winners will play in final.
Mr. Del Carmen said at this point it is too early to say how the Azkals would perform in the Asian Cup even as he underscored the need for the team to show patience in its attack.
“It’s too early to say how the team would do in the Asian Cup. We’ve got the 2018 AFF Championship (Suzuki Cup) later this year so let’s focus on that first. A good showing there will raise confidence for the team and fans for the Asian Cup,” Mr. Del Carmen said.
“I would like to see more patience in our play though. I mean I think we were too direct against Tajikistan and I would like to see us be more careful in possession. We lost the ball a few times at dangerous positions,” he added.

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