Philippine Azkals will attack Timnas Indonesia: McMenemy

By Jojo Malig, abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 12/19/2010 4:56 PM | Updated as of 12/19/2010 9:35 PM

MANILA, Philippines – It’s now about attacking and scoring goals.

 

The Philippine national football team seeks to advance to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup finals by being more adventurous against Indonesia when the 2 teams collide in the second leg of their semifinal tie at Jakarta’s Bung Karno Stadium on Sunday night.

 

Philippine coach Simon McMenemy told the AFF official website that the Azkals will change their tactics after falling behind by just a single goal in the first leg. 

 

We can afford to go forward a little bit more. Obviously if we want to stay in the tie, we have to go out and score. Our thought process will still be a bit similar but we can afford to be a bit more adventurous," he said.

 

McMenemy said his team focused on containing Indonesia’s forwards and wingers last Thursday. 

 

"In the game the other night, it was important that we kept things tight," he said. "We couldn't go chasing the game by pushing more men forward, changing the formation or playing more direct. We still needed to do what we're good at in order to keep things tight.” 

 

"If we had committed men forward, Indonesia are very good going forwards and they could quite easily have pulled us apart and put another three or four in the net as they have done quite a few times,” he added. “The fact that this is a 2-leg tie means that we have a bit of a different mentality going into the second game.”

 

With the away-goal rule being used in the semifinals, the Philippines can advance to the finals against Malaysia by scoring at least 2 goals and limiting Indonesia to 1 goal. 

 

If the Azkals score just a single goal and keep a clean sheet against Indonesia in the 90-minute regulation period, the match will go to extra time. A penalty shootout will follow if the score will stay unchanged after extra time. 

 

Indonesia only needs a draw, which will result in a superior aggregate goal score, to advance to the finals.

 

Uruguay-born striker Cristian Gonzales scored Indonesia’s lone goal in the first match by capitalizing on an Azkals defensive error. 

 

James Younghusband nearly pulled the Philippines level in the 75th minute but his bicycle kick towards goal was cleared off the line by Zulkifly Syuku. 

 

Azkals had more scoring chances

 

The Philippines actually had more scoring chances than Indonesia in the first match. 

 

The Azkals took 7 shots, with 5 on target, while the Merah Putih only had 5 attempts with 2 on goal, according to the Jakarta Globe.

 

With the second-leg match as the “biggest game” of the Azkals’ careers, the British tactician said his men are up for the fight. “This is the biggest game of their careers so motivation will not be a problem. They will run until they're dead.”

 

He also dismissed comments that members of the Philippine team were not prepared for the tournament.

"No matter what the commentators on Star Sports say, we have prepared well, we are a fit side and we don't stop running,” he said.

 

"Our fitness proves itself in that we have scored 3 goals in the 94th minute over our last eight games. Teams that are unfit can't do that but we go right up to the very end and that proved itself in the result that we pulled out against Singapore, for example. We didn't give up and we kept going right until the very end.” 

 

McMenemy is expected to retain his starting line-up on Sunday night, with forwards Phil Younghusband and Ian Araneta leading the charge.

 

James Younghusband, Jason de Jong, Emelio "Chieffy" Caligdong, and Christopher Greatwich will man the midfield; the back 4 will feature Rob Gier, Anton del Rosario, skipper Alexander Borromeo, and Ray Anthony Jonsson; while Neil Etheridge will be on goal.

 

Indonesia will also attack

 

Timnas Indonesia, meanwhile, will not sit on a single-goal advantage and will also be attack-minded on Sunday night, according to Merah Putih assistant coach Wolfgang Pikal. 

 

"We have a team which is attack-minded and we like to play an open game," said the Austrian. 

 

"We don't forget to defend, of course, but because we're playing at home, we also feel that we have the responsibility to our fans to play an open game."  

 

Pikal earlier said the Philippine team, which features 7 Filipinos with foreign blood, plays like a “European team.”

 

“They're 10-15 kilos bigger than our boys. We had a hard time," he said.  

 

Indonesia could miss the services of skipper Firman Utina and striker Irfan Bachdim, who are nursing injuries ahead of Sunday’s match.

 

The pivotal second-leg clash on Sunday night will be broadcast live by ABS-CBN Studio 23 starting at 8 p.m.