Philippines[R]

as for me, I think that is a fair challenge, I might have to see the highlight once again though as I can't see the hand at all. but fair result I believe. Yeah from what I know, their fans made 30 minutes silent for the worst 30 years of reign of the Chairman. But it was pure energetic by the fans as before I only saw Indonesian used flare and smoke in the football game of Asean region

 

Here is the description of the game from the Malaysian press perspective. It mentions the handball that cancelled the goal. From my perspective I didn't see it either, but I will take their word for it since it saved us from a loss. More than the result, I really like the way the Philippines kept the ball on the ground, rather than resorting to the long ball as they did during the previous Weiss regime. Granted, they are a work in progress under the new system and coach, but I am really encourage by the improvement in their game, despite this being the B team.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Foo...s-highlight-of-Malaysia-Philippines-friendly/

The Malaysian Ultras, just like the Indonesians, can be very intense. In fact they have to be separated from the Indonesian fans in friendlies as those 2 rivals don't like each other.

 

Do you know which Dubai stadium is hosting the match between Azerbaijan and the Philippines? And how to get tickets?

 

is the ultras filipinas are your home base ultras fans ? do they have ultras in philippines

 

I have heard of them. They are just starting out. I am sure they respect other groups because that is what they would like to become, but they still don't have the numbers, the experience or the tradition. It will take time just like our football.

In general though in Southeast Asia, it is more intimidating to play in Indonesia, because their national stadium can hold more than a 100,000 fans who are generally hostile to visiting teams and their fans have been known to turn violent in the past.

 

Not quite sure. I will post if I find out.

 

It will be held in Al-Shabbab Stadium. The UAEFA website has already announced their ticket sales on their website.

The Ultras Filipinas are the local ultras of the Philippine team. They are derived from a club ultras squad, the Ultras Kaya of Kaya FC.

 

Thanks stellarboy. You should post more often. You know more about the situation there than I do.

 

Let's see then. Quite busy lately.

 

Incidentally I am surprised that the Iranian embassy is not participating. The Philippine national futsal team coach is from Iran. My guess is that they were given instructions not to participate in events where the US is involved in. If you also, include the Israeli embassy in that tournament along with Iran, it is quite possible an international incident might be triggered right there and then.

 

I was told the tickets were sold at the Philippine embassy in Dubai, and they were about to be sold out the last time I checked. I'm not sure with the Azerbaijani side.

 

It will be a home crowd for the Philippines. Plenty of Filipinos in Dubai.

 

Update in the Azerbaijan friendly:

Goalkeeper Muller will also not be coming because of illness.

http://www.azkalsfootballteam.com/news.php?id=462

The Man of the Match in the Malaysia game and local UFL standout Patrick Deyto will instead take over between the pipes. I am not sure who is backing him up. This would be his 2nd cap.

 

FT Azerbaijan 1-0 Philippines

Well, I was only able to watch the 2nd half(by that time they were behind 0-1), but I saw the Philippines dominate most of the possession and the chances on goal in that half including some that came close. It was a respectable result against a higher ranked(FIFA # 95) UEFA team with 7 or 8 of the usual Azkal starters still missing. Overall, another good performance under Dooley.

Both friendlies served their purpose as the players were introduced to a different system under Dooley and new capable players were added to the mix, including Rota, Steuble and Deyto who all played well.

 

In what you watched, were we attacking? Did Azerbajian park the bus and counter or did they attack as well?

 

Two more training camps in the Middle East are being lined up for the Philippine side preparing for the AFC Challenge Cup in the Maldives in May.

The Azkals, who were slated to face Azerbaijan in a friendly Wednesday night, are scheduled to hold camps in Qatar and Bahrain in the next two months before they plunge into action in the Maldives.

The Qatar camp starting April 8 will include matches against Nepal and Qatari club team Al-Ahli.

Azkals manager Dan Palami plans to hold the Bahrain camp from May 6 to 16 before they fly to the Maldives for the event that stakes a spot to the AFC Asian Cup next year. Palami is also hoping to have the Azkals together for a four-day training sessions in the Philippines.

 

Azerbaijan relied mostly on their counterattacking game in the 2nd half since they were ahead 1-0. Most of the play in the 2nd half was in the Azerbaijan side of the field. It is hard to break them down when they are ahead though since they are such a solid team defensively. Berti Vogts is really a good coach with a very organized old school German style of play that allowed them to draw teams like Russia and Belgium and defeat teams like Turkey and Northern Ireland. He really has done wonders for Azerbaijan.

As for the Azkals, yes we did most of the attacking and they had plenty of chances, but their finishing was not up to par and they were not able to break down the opposing defences.

From what I have read, the Azerbaijan goal in the first half came from a header of a set play. The Azerbaijanis took advantage of their height to score the only goal of the game.

 

Final stats for the Azerbaijan game:

 

Great to read about what seems to be significant improvements under the new coach! Unfortunately, I was unable to watch any of the last two games. However, before we get too excited...if Dooley can't get the team to start scoring goals all the other improvements will be worthless. After all, you don't win games if you don't score. Not sure how much the coach can do about it or if it is exclusively due to individual players' problems!?

On a different note, it's great to see how much support football in the Philippines gets from all kinds of (different, diverse) backgrounds, like this Ambassadors' Cup (I'm a bit bummed Germany isn't involved in this though, given all the support that the DFB is giving the PFF). It's all a bit uncoordinated but every kind of support counts and makes a differences, maybe eventually adding up to major improvements!? Glad to see that so far stakeholders really seem to care more about the development of the game in Philippines rather than their own agendas, especially in a country like Philippines where people of wealth and influence tend not to do what's best for the country/people but what's best for them personally! Let's hope it stays this way and Philippines keeps improving and the sport keeps growing!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the goals Gaboo. The players are still adjusting to the new system and each other, many of whom come from abroad and playing with each other for the first time. Their main goalscorer Phil Young husband is also still recovering from injury and was favoring his ankle all the time.
The main thing though was the way they played the game, which impressed even former Germany national team coach Berti Vogts, who is currently coaching Azerbaijan.
As for the Ambassador 's Cup futsal tournament, this was actually started last year by Brazil and a few other South American countries. They expanded it this year to include other embassies, so more poor urban communities can benefit. Hopefully they can recreate the Brazilian neighborhood futsal tournaments that produced so many of their stars. It is amusing to read about all the bantering going between the various embassies about whose teams they are training will win the tournament. Perhaps Germany might be one of those teams participating, even though futsal street tournaments are not as popular in Germany as in other countries.
As for the country as a whole, it seems that the growth of football this past few years has been matched by the growth in the Philippine economy as well which has been expanding by approx. 7% annually in the same time period. That might be one of the reasons that more capital and resources have been made available to propagate the sport, than in the past. Football is now the fastest growing sport, both in terms of participation and popularity in the Philippines today. Other organizations and FA's see that and have generously offered their help. Hopefully the momentum continues.

 

Filipino booters impress German mentor

MANILA, Philippines–Having won the World Cup in 1974 as a player for Germany and managed five national teams, veteran coach Berti Vogts knows a potentially strong squad when he sees one.

And he believes the Philippines, which narrowly lost, 0-1, to his Azerbaijan side in a friendly in Dubai Wednesday night, can be a force in the continent in the future.

Despite fielding his first stringers, most of which played a major role in decent performances against European powerhouses Russia and Portugal in World Cup Qualifying, Vogts’ side only managed a tight win against the Azkals, who were ranked more than 30 places than his team in the Fifa rankings.

Under Dooley, the Azkals are flashing a much improved passing game, showing more composure and confidence on the ball—a far cry from previous performances that saw them play long balls.

“The Philippine team impressed me very well,” the 67-year-old Vogts told the Inquirer after the match at Al Shabab Stadium in Dubai.

“I understand the system and I know it was a good game from them. The movement is good, the movement is good without the ball. Maybe in the future they could qualify for the Asian Cup.”

Vogts praised new Azkals coach Thomas Dooley, whom he said he knows “very well” from the German Bundesliga and the United States national team.

Facing a Germany side coached by Vogts in 1993, Dooley, who skippered the United States, scored twice for the Americans in a 3-4 loss.

“He’s a good player and now a good coach and he’s trying to mix Asian style football and European football,” Vogts said.

This early, Vogts believes the Philippines is capable of beating Kyrgyzstan—a possible opponent in the AFC Challenge Cup in the Maldives in May. Azerbaijan played Kyrgyzstan to a scoreless draw in a friendly in November last year.

“(If they play), I think the favorite is the Philippines,” said Vogts.

The Azkals won’t play Kyrgyzstan unless both teams reach the knockout round. The Philippines is grouped with Afghanistan, Laos and Turkmenistan, while the other bracket is made up of Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Maldives and Myanmar.

http://sports.inquirer.net/147061/filipino-booters-impress-german-mentor

The Philippines were missing 5 or 6 players who have started for them in the past in this game, so they still have room to improve.

 

Thomas Dooley interview: Laying Filipino football foundations
(By Kenny Lauries, Sports 360)

Thomas Dooley is used to building things from the ground-up.

As a player for Kaiserlautern, the German-born defender was thrust into a major sporting project in 1992 helping to drive American soccer ahead of World Cup ‘94.

Now, he is plotting a route for the Philippines national team from relative obscurity.

The parallels between the two projects are hard to ignore. Both the Philippines and the US prefer other sports to football – with basketball extremely popular in the South East Asian country – and both countries have had to mine the world’s talent pools to help beef up their squads.

Unlike the US however, the Philippines lacks the numbers at home and abroad.

“We need to be successful,” Dooley told Sport360°. “To get sponsors and to get a national league for people to look up to, that’s my goal. We want to grow in the next five years to a point that people can turn around and say, ‘wow, look what happened in the last five years in that country.’”

Dooley has arrived in the Philippines with a wealth of coaching experience but not a huge amount of management experience.

His lone job in the hot seat was with FC Saarbrucken in the lower leagues of German football over 10 years ago and yielded little success with the club long in the doldrums.

Since then however, he has been cutting his teeth as assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann with the US national team.

That was another project.

Dooley and Klinsmann were charged with revamping the US footballing structure after progress had stalled somewhat.

He credits his time with the German legend as an important one, leaving behind a healthy programme ahead of the World Cup in Brazil.

But why would a coach leave a major sporting nation with a World Cup just around the corner? T

he challenge is what appeals to Dooley’s competitive nature.

A national football team had barely existed until a local tycoon started the Azkals, running the team almost like a club, flying players from every walk of life that have a Filipino heritage.

In his playing days, Dooley – who won a Bundesliga title with Kaiserlautern in 1991 and the UEFA Cup with Schalke in 1997 – was similarly picked off.

As a towering centre half, Dooley helped lead the USA to a second round place at USA '94 before captaining the team four years later in France. The USA team of '94 had seven players born outside of America and the Filipino squad training in Dubai this week had 16 out of 22 hailing from other countries.

Training at the UAE Football Association Headquarters, a myriad of accents and languages were thrown around, with football the only common dialect uniting them all. A mammoth task it is to bring together a group of disparate talents under the banner of one flag, but it does come with its advantages.

“The reason I wanted to come here was that I saw they didn’t play soccer,” adds Dooley. “They played a kick-and-rush style game, I want to play differently. With these players we can play a better style, they’re all good.

“We want a team that can play nicely, that people can get behind.

“It is similar to the US, there are so many nationalities coming in so there is a similarity there. We have guys from Mexico, Germany, South Africa - all over the place. Football is different. Can you play? Then come here, we need you.

“I said to the guys I really just want players who can play, who want the ball, someone who’s confident and wants to touch the ball.

“Mistakes aren’t a big deal – unless you are making them all the time – but in general if the ball is your friend then we’re looking for you.”

Dooley has made Manila his home after replacing Michael Weiss a month ago. He admits that despite the importance of playing in Dubai, he can’t wait to get back to his life in the capital and adapting has been an easy process for the globetrotting coach.

Moving, settling and re-settling is part of the deal for anyone who works in professional football.

Walking the streets of Manila, one thing became very clear to Dooley early on. Basketball is truly king in the Philippines.

Dooley has a hell of a task in front of him to prove to the throngs of basketball fans that football is an equally good game.

While the German-American is looking to take some talent from the basketball-playing pool, there are things he can learn from the sport.

“We want an identity like the basketball team,” he explains. “I want aggressive, quick, combination type of game, they are quick players and technically pretty good – they need to be 100 per cent fit – but if we can put all of that together we can have our own identity.

“We don’t have six-foot-four centre backs, we have small quick guys who can play. That’s how I’d like to play and if that became the identity of the Philippines then that would be great.

“Basketball is No1 but really how many kids can play basketball professionally? Most of the players aren’t taller than six foot. In soccer you don’t need that, Messi is no taller than five foot six.

“The people need to realise that, that if you take this ball and play with it enough you can become a superstar and support your family and your friends.

“If we can get that in the mindset of the players and implant that dream then we are Brazil. This is something that with the mentality they have, the heart that they have, the passion that they have, I think there is a great future.”

American coaches abroad

Bob Bradley
Having got Egypt so close to qualifying for the World Cup, Bradley is in the dugout for Norweigian club Stabæk.

David Wagner
Another German-born American who prospered in the Bundesliga. Is currently coach of Borussia Dortmund’s reserves.

Dennis Lukens
Worked with amateur clubs in the US but has been in charge of Ukrainean second division club Krystal Kherson since 2011.

Gregg Berhalter
Took a high-profile job with Hammarby in Sweden in 2011 but was sacked in 2013 and is now leading Columbus Crew.

www.sport360.com/article/football/19472/thomas-dooley-interview-laying-filipino-football-foundations

--

One month into his tenure as national team coach, Dooley is already making a huge impact in the game in the Philippines, not only by using an attractive style that suits the Filipino climate and physique and that can serve as a blueprint for every Philippine coach to follow and adopt, but also doing an excellent job, helping to promote football in a country where basketball is king.

 

Gulf News spoke to Palami on the sidelines of the Philippines’ recent training camp in Dubai to discuss some key issues.



GULF NEWS: Can you explain your decision to replace head coach Michael Weiss with Thomas Dooley just four months before the AFC Challenge Cup?

DAN PALAMI: We were in a plateau and needed a catalyst and I felt getting a new coach would help. We were happy with what he had done. He brought us to a higher level, but was it the level to bring us the AFC Challenge Cup? I wasn’t sure. It was a risk I had to take and I think so far we are in a better position than we were with Michael. I’m not belittling the advances we had under him, but I think we reached as far as we could go with him.



GN: What brief have you given the new coach?

DP: Basically, give us the AFC Challenge Cup. He has to get us there. We are making sure everything he needs is given so that all he has to do is train the guys and get us to that objective leaving no stones unturned. Winning the Challenge Cup would help us qualify for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in our history. That’s our goal, to be up there with the big guys.



GN: Why did you pick Dooley in particular?

DP: I think his experience as a player in the Fifa World Cup and with Bundesliga clubs will immediately gain him the respect of the players. That’s important for a coach with the limited time he has to establish rapport and the respect he needs to have with the team. We were on the same page with regards what we felt the team was lacking and he came with a plan on what he intends to achieve. That was the clincher. The fact he could speak German, English and Spanish was also a positive as that covers almost all the squad in terms of languages spoken. His experience as a German-American being called up to represent the US at World Cup 1994 is almost the same as our players of mixed heritage, albeit in a less prestigious tournament. Nevertheless, he will understand their position perfectly having experienced similar as a player.



GN: Dooley has overseen two friendly games so far: a goalless draw against Malaysia and a 1-0 defeat to Azerbaijan. Have you been impressed?

DP: The fact that we gave Malaysia and Azerbaijan a really good fight speaks well of the coach, who has almost performed a miracle considering the short time he has had with the squad. He’s had only two training sessions with the overseas players and four with the local-based players. But everyone is now clear of their role, whereas before players were unsure where to go or how to run. That was the reason most of our attacks consisted of long balls, but now we are able to keep the ball on the ground and make deliberate opportunities on goal. It’s a remarkable improvement from how we played before. If we have this kind of style inside six training sessions, imagine what will happen when the team has more time together. In the context of our preparation for the AFC Challenge Cup, this can only augur well for us come May.



GN: How has football grown in the Philippines since you became team manager?

DP: We reached the semi-finals of the Asean Championship for the first time in 2010. That was the turning point. Since then, we have managed to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup for the first time in 2012, where we reached the semi-finals and finished third. As a result of our success, football has become the fastest-growing sport in the Philippines. Of course, it hasn’t overtaken basketball yet, but we have 65,000 kids playing youth-team football nationwide and retailers have seen a 9,000 per cent increase in football clothing, which is something we didn’t have before.

GN: Sixteen of the current 22-man squad were born overseas. When can we see more homegrown talent getting into the team?

DP: That’s the long-term plan. We are eventually looking at a Philippines team where we don’t have to rely too much on players from abroad. Our hope is that the current squad raises the interest in football enough so that our current six and nine-year-olds form the basis of a really strong national team in 10 years’ time.

Meanwhile, we have Filipinos abroad willing to play for the country and fast-track this process. Winning translates into popularity and that’s what we need in the Philippines. That catalyst was a good performance in 2010. Basically the interest in the sport is directly related to how the Azkals are fairing in their tournaments and we hope to continue that.

_____

I think that figure of 65,000 kids might refer only to registered kids playing in tournaments and not the total number of kids playing football, which are a lot more. That or it might be a possible misquote(adding another 0).