Philippines[R]

1-1 Philippines -Malaysia.

Philippines leading most of the way but Malaysia scored in injury time in the 2nd half to tie it.

 

Unfortunately the player who scored for the Philippines in the Malaysian friendly, Denis Wolf will be unable to join the AFC Challenge Cup as his passport was not issued in time for the tournament. Several players were also ruled out including Danish Superliga player Jerry Lucena because they were not releaed by their clubs and they are still awaiting final word on several other players on whether they will be released as well including starting goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, and Bundesliga 2 veterans Stephan Schrock, and Dennis Cagara. There have also been injury and fitness issues with Chieffy Caligdong and Rob Gier although it looks like they might make it in time. Starting centerback Al Borromeo is definitely out because of injury and right back Anton del Rosario will also not be available due to suspension. Paul Mulders though is good to go after being given permission by ADO den Haag to play in the tournament and even without Etheridge, there would be adequate cover at goalkeeper, with the presence of Roland Mueller of MSV Duisberg.

 

It looks like the year long diplomatic effort to convince the clubs to release the Philippine players for the AFC Challenge Cup was only partially successful as they will be missing 3 of their best players Stephan Schrock(Greuther Furth) Roland Mueller (MSV Duisberg) and Jerry Lucena(AGF Aarhus), who were not release by their clubs.

AFC Challenge Cup - Philippines squad
Philippines squad for AFC Challenge Cup

1 NEIL LEONARD DULA ETHERIDGE 1 GK
2 EDUARD ORTALLA SACAPANO 41 GK
3 JOSE PAOLO ARAGON PASCUAL 44 GK
4 ROBERT JAMES DAZO GIER 2 DF
5 JUAN LUIS ALDEGUER GUIRADO 5 DF
6 PAUL MULDERS 22 DF
7 LEXTON DELA CRUZ MOY 29 DF
8 JASON ABBOTT ABANTAO SABIO 42 DF
9 ROEL JIMENA GENER 6 MF
10 JAMES JOSEPH PLACER YOUNGHUSBAND 7 MF
11 MISAGH MEDINA BAHADORAN 9 MF
12 PHILIP JAMES PLACER YOUNGHUSBAND 10 MF
13 ANGEL ALDEGUER GUIRADO 12 MF
14 JASON NICOLAS MARIA DANTES DE JONG 17 MF
15 NESTORIO JR BRAGA MARGARSE 19 MF
16 MARWIN JANVER MALINAY ANGELES 24 MF
17 RAY ANTHONY PEPITO JONSSON 27 MF
18 NATHANIEL PAYOS BURKEY 34 MF
19 DENNIS MENGOY CAGARA 35 MF
20 BONGBONG ROXY VESTIDAS DORLAS 36 MF
21 EMELIO ASADA CALIGDONG 13 FW
22 CARLOS ALBERTO OLAIVAR MARTINEZ DE MURGA 14 FW
23 IAN BAYONA ARANETA 23 FW

http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-challenge-....teamID=195&id=0

Nevertheless, it looks like they will still have some quality players in the roster including Neil Etheridge of Fulham, Paul Mulders of ADO Den Haag, and Dennis Cagara of Frankfurt from some of the top leagues in Europe to call upon.

 

Who is Misagh Bahadoran...that is a Persian name.

 

Indeed Misagh is part Iranian, part Filipino. I believe I posted about him on the Iranian forum awhile ago. He was born in the Philippines but grew up and learned his football in Iran, before deciding to finish his graduate studies in the Philippines where he finished his dentistry degree a year ago. Only after he did that, did he fully commit to the Philippine national football team. Before that he was also a member of the Philippine national futsal team whose coach is also Iranian. He now plays 1st division football in the Philippines for Global although he first joined the league as a member of the local Iranian team Pasargad. He is famous for scoring a rare olimpico(scoring a goal from a corner kick without the ball touching anybody else) in league play.

 

Thanks.

Do you have a video of the goal?

 

Unfortunately no.

 

I Googled him, and he looks like a model/actor. I guess he must be very popular with the ladies over there in Philippines.

 

Yes, I have heard he is popular with the ladies indeed. Several of the players on the national team are doing some modeling and advertising contracts on the side, since the national team only gives you an allowance and their salary from league play might not be enough for some of them. He comes from a relatively affluent family of dentists and optometrists, so he doesn't really have to worry too much, but he likes being in the limelight so he does a lot of activities outside of football. I believe he also had started up a taxi business on the side before eventually opening up a dental practice at some point when he is no longer as active with his football career.

 

BTW you might find it amusing to know that this dentist footballer lost his front incisor in a game against the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS while playing for the national team, but was so happy to talk and shake hands with David Beckham that he ignored the pain and bleeding that ensued after getting hit by an LA player.

 

Interesting comments by the Malaysian coach Rajagobal concerning the Philippine team in light of the upcoming Suzuki Cup AFF championships in November:

http://www.mmail.com.my/story/beware-filipinos

"National coach Datuk K. Rajagobal has not discounted the possibility that the Philippines and Thailand could be the title contenders for the Asean Cup in November."

“Many tend to forget the Philippines were semifinalist at the 2010 tournament. They played two matches against Indonesia in Jakarta and lost both matches with a similar score of 1-0. What if they had played one of the matches in Manila? I’m sure it would have been a different scoreline.”

The Philippines played both the matches in Jakarta as they did not have a proper venue to host the Indonesians in the two-leg semifinal clash.

 

Korea's reaction their 2-0 win over the Philippines

http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournamen.../38269-korea-coach-impressed-with-philippines

Korea coach impressed with Philippines
Friday, 09 March 2012 22:59

DPR Korea coach Yun Jong-su believes that the Philippines can cause trouble to previous AFC Challenge Cup champions India and Tajikistan if they continue to play as they did in the defending champions' 2-0 win over the Azkals on Friday.



The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup winners were kept at bay for almost an hour, with the impressive Neil Etheridge saving a 16th minute penalty, prompting Yun's positive assessment.

"I would not be surprised if they cause problems to the other teams in the group," said Yun, who pointed out the Philippines have improved immensely over the past few years.

When asked if a 2-0 score against the tournament underdogs indicated a struggling performance from the defending champions Yun said:

"We wanted to win the match and it was a really difficult game to play. We are very happy to have come away with all three points as our objectives have been served."

Yun counterpart Hans Michael Weiss admitted that they lost a very good side and took a lot of positives from the defeat.

"We played and defended very well and to defend was our strategy as we knew that chances would come along the way," he said.

"We did get a chance very early in the match but Philip (Younghusband) missed a great opportunity. Had that gone in who knows what would have happened in the match?"

"We conceded a penalty which, I believe, shouldn't have been given but overall, I can see a lot of positives from the match."

The Azkals take on India on Sunday in a crucial encounter for both sides while DPR Korea will try to build on their opening win when they face 2006 champions Tajikistan, who defeated India 2-0 to gain revenge for their defeat in the 2008 final.

__________

2 players who are in the roster de Jong and Cagara, did not show up, the former because of a trial offer in Scotland that suddenly cropped up and the latter because he still has not been released by his club. They are still not sure when or if they are even going to show up which means that currently they only have 18 outfield players to call upon.

 

I think they should not invite de Jong ever again.

 

mike

cedelf tupas, an inquirer reporter on twitter is saying de jong will be arriving late as a result of this trial. We might actually need him at defensive mid since we have very few experienced options at that position so hopefully he arrives ASAP.

 

Whomever is handling his career is very unprofessional. Even a last minute trial should have been postponed as it shows his commitment to his obligations.

You can't really blame Cagara but you can blam de Jong.

It would behoove either Weiss or Palami to try and build a better relation with Cagara's club (and other Euros as well).

 

mike

I wrote an analysis as well as rated some of the players in the other board under the challenge cup thread. check it out.

 

Thanks

 

Might be in the above threads, but I wanted to ask of the current players in this comp, how many are overseas based players called up for the challenge cup?

 

Starting XI against North Korea

Neil Etheridge , fil-english , based in England
Juan Luis Guirado , fil-spanish , short term based in Philippines
James Younghusband , fil-English , based in Philippines
Misagh Bahadoran , fil-Iranian , based in Philippines
Phil Younghusband , fil-English , based in Philippines
Angel Guirado, fil-spanish , based in Philippines
Carli de Murga , fil-Spanish , short term based in Philippines
Paul Mulders , Fil-dutch , based in Netherlands
Marwin Angeles, fil-Italian , based in Philippines
Ray Jonsson , fil-Icelandic , based in Iceland
Jason Sabio , fil-American , based in Philippines

 

To add to jonny's post. Most of our players play in the UFL, the Philippine domestic league. Unfortunately, most of our players who are playing in the top 2 tiers in European leagues were not released by their clubs. One of them might be arriving late assuming he is released after this weekend's game. So the current team is far from being the best team we can field.
Of course, as you know Palestine is facing similar problems, so we are not the only one shorthanded.

 

jonny,

I think Carli de Murga plans to play in the UFL long term. He likes it there. There is even rumors that his brother might try playing there too.

As for Angel Guirado, he is way too good to be playing in the Philippines. It is possible he can transfer to a better league like Japan for instance. The only advantage to him being in the UFL, is his instant availability when the national team calls.

 

Fil-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong, meanwhile, arrived last night to reinforce the Azkals. De Jong missed the first match as he underwent trials in Scotland.

“It will be difficult for de Jong to play one day after arrival. Maybe for last part of the match against India, if it’s necessary. If we don’t need him, we’ll preserve him more for Tajikistan (on Tuesday) and then for semifinals,” said Weiss.

 

2-0 Philippines. Azkals tied with Tajikistan for 2nd place on points as well as goal differential.

Next game against Tajikistan decides it all as I predicted pretournament for the 2nd slot in Group B.

North Korea deservedly tops the group and is clear favourite to win it all.

It has been a dominant year for the Philippines against countries from the SAFF as this results clearly showed in their last 4 games against them:

Philippines 4-0 Sri Lanka
Philippines 3-0 Bangladesh
Philippines 4-0 Nepal
Philippines 2-0 India

 

Well as it turns out, de Jong did very well in his trials in Scotland and has been subsequently signed by Scottish League second division club Ayr United FC. He was initially headed to the UFL, but this opportunity was apparently too good to pass up.

Azkals Fil-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong is set to bring his trademark aggressive plays to Scotland instead of moving over to the Philippines.

De Jong said he’s set to sign with Scottish League second division club Ayr United FC, ruling out plans for a stint in the United Football League (UFL).

“I would have loved to play in the Philippines but this is a big opportunity for me,” said the 22-year-old booter on the eve of the Azkals’ crucial duel with former champion India in the AFC Challenge Cup here.

De Jong attended trials with Ayr last week, making him unavailable for Phl XI in its losing effort against defending titlist North Korea (0-2) at the start of competitions last Friday.

“I chose this club because the style of play suits me. I can be on my thing, (doing) strong, physical (plays). There you don’t get booked for every tackle you make. And the players are really fit, aggressive and strong,” he said.

De Jong has taken in some sort of rounds in four countries, having previous club stints in Belgium, the Netherlands and Indonesia. He’s being offered a slot by Stallion Gilligan’s FC in the UFL prior to trying out with Ayr Utd.

http://www.philstar.com/sportsarticle.as....ubcategoryid=69

Ayr United, based in Ayr, South Ayrshire (a suburb of Glasgow), currently plays in the First Division of the Scottish Football League. They are currently 8th in the 10-team league, just at the borderline of the relegation zone.

Frankly I think the very physical Scottish league would be more suitable for him as his physical brand of play which usually results in at least a yellow card per game in international play, would have been a liability in the UFL.