Philippine Azkals rally to beat Afghanistan in friendly match
THE YOUTH brigade saved the day for the Philippine Azkals as they pulled off a 2-1 fightback win over Afghanistan in Tuesday night’s international friendly at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Jens Sebastian Rasmussen, 21, came off the bench to produce a crafty strike at the 74th minute that offset the Afghans’ opening goal then Christian Rontini, 24, headed in the winner seven minutes later to save the home side from the blushes.
The Azkals picked up the W four nights after blowing a 1-nil lead in a 1-1 draw against Chinese Taipei on wet conditions in Kaohsiung. They also put one over Afghanistan head to head after stalemates in two previous meetings in the defunct AFC Challenge Cup.
“In Germany, we say it’s a dirty win. You win despite the adversity, problems that were there so for us it‘s fantastic,” said the Azkals’ German coach Michael Weiss, who is preparing the team for the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in November.
“I think we should have already won in Taipei, which was the better game of the two. But at the end of the day, football is a results-oriented sport so I’m happy.
“It gives us confidence for the next level in October (next Fifa match days) as we’ll have a (training) camp in Bahrain (and possible friendlies) against very strong teams (prior to the World Cup Qualifiers),” he added.
Despite the Azkals controlling possession, it was the Afghans who broke through at the 64th with Omid Popalzay firing a volley that eluded Neil Etheridge and bounced off the crossbar into the net.
Then came Mr. Rasmussen, who made an amazing run from the half-line past three Afghan defenders to slot in a sublime equalizer that drove the 2,157 supporters nuts.
Mr. Rontini made sure the merrymaking was complete as he soared to meet Bienve Maranon’s cross and send it home, executing Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic “siuu” celebration to the delight of the crowd.
Mr. Etheridge, now the elder statesman and skipper of the team, said the Azkals’ “winning mentality is back “after “accepting mediocrity the last five years.”
“It’s probably the first time in a long while I’ve seen that fight from an Azkals team. We could have rolled over after conceding one- nil. We didn’t,” said Mr. Etheridge, whom Mr. Weiss described as the side’s “mental coach” for helping his teammates embrace the “win-at-all-cost” mentality. — Olmin Leyba
