Will the Azkals Duplicate Their Win vs Mongolia?

Many local football aficionados are fearing of unlikely treatment by game officials when Mongolia hosts the final AFC Qualifying Match on March 16 at their turf. They give reasons of the same treatment Mongolian suffered when the first match was held at Panaad Sports Stadium last February 9. Remember those green and red cards for Mongolian players? Mongolian players and officials protested those calls but couldn’t do otherwise. So, it will be the other way around when they host the match. The other factor will be the hostile crowd. What Azkals would do is to prevent Mongolia from scoring more than three to advance them to the next round with Bangladesh, Palestine and Kazhakstan.

Local coaches fear too that handling of players by Hans Michael Weiss is not bound by disciplines. They noted, Weiss could not contain his players which is disastrous if not given attention. It is because most of them (players) enjoy celebrity status. However, Weiss believes otherwise.

The Azkals are undergoing training in Baguio and Weiss disclosed it boosted their confidence. Their Baguio training is to acclimatize with Mongolia’s weather.

The national squad concluded the last day of their training camp at the Brent International School in Baguio City.

On their last day of drills in the City of Pines, the Azkals went through more attack-oriented drills, with Phil Younghusband and Chieffy Caligdong thriving in six-a-side play with bigger goals on a smaller field.

The Azkals were in Baguio City for six days and most of their training were at the Benguet State University.

They recently won over the Baguio Pinikpikan, which is a selection of football players of Baguio City in a match at the Benguet State University football field with a score 9-1.

The Azkals will fly to Japan on March 6 for further training under the auspices of the Japan Football Association. They will be staying at the J-Village, the national training facility in Fukushima.

Weiss said he gave the boys a lot of scoring opportunities and training, "so in the real game, it will just be instinct for them to shoot."

Hearing this news would give every Filipino positive thinking that the Azkals are really doing their homework. Hope this will translate to real score during their match with Mongolia on March 16, 2011 [March 15, 2011 -nicky]. 

/via Negros Daily Bulletin (by Cyrus M. Garde)



Teaser video of Azkals rematch against Mongolia on March 15, 2011, which can be watched live in Studio 23.  Video credit to abscbnsports@youtube