0-0 halftime. This is much like the same from the previous game with Yemen. Wondering which one of the Azkals can breakthrough and finally score on the offensive end.
Mongolia is good with their headers particularly in the defensive end. That is the one statistic they are winning at the moment rendering the Philippines less effective with their corner kicks. This is probably one of the reasons the much taller Palestine scored their only goal from a PK. Otherwise the Philippines is dominating in every other category incl. possession (80%), shots, corner kicks, etc.
Just want to know, do we need Palestine to beat Yemen by a big margin to secure at least a top 2 spot in the group table?
We need to be among the top 5 2nd best placed teams of the 6 runnerups if we don't win the group outright so it would depend on the results of other groups. We definitely need to win against Mongolia to be in a good position though.
That was a pretty weak effort by Reichelt on the PK. No elevation on the shot. They should have let Holtmann take the PK. We are lacking Schrock's composure in midfield. Dooley made a mistake in excluding him.
Holtmann delivered with a goal. FT Philippines 1-0 Mongolia It should have been 2-0 though with the PK.
It was mostly frustrating to watch but until the end. What a finish. A win is a win. I take the full 3 points. Kinda feel bad for the Mongolian players, especially the goalkeeper. He played his heart out and made a couple big saves to keep his team in the match.
I’m looking at Twitter right now about the Azkals. I’ve seen some that said “Dooley Out” or “Fire Dooley” from some fans/supporters before Holtmann scored the winning goal and now after that goal, there are tweets saying “Holtmann is the GOAT”
I hope we qualify to the Asian Cup. There are a lot good players missing that would have taken advantage of Holtmann's assists better. Today's performance to me was kind of disappointing.
Yeah, I understand. I feel like Dooley’s coaching style is going back 5-10 years to the Younghusbands era, which I think doesn’t work in today’s Azkals team. This roster is more talented and better than it was a decade ago.
Quinley Quezada has made the next big move in her professional career. Serbian SuperLiga side Red Star Belgrade announced yesterday through its social media accounts that it has completed the signing of the University of California, Riverside alumna. The terms of the deal were undisclosed. “Welcome Quinley to our red and white family, Quinley Quezada is a new addition to the ZFK Red Star. She comes from the USA and is a member of the national team of the Philippines,” the team announced. Red Star are yet to win the Serbian SuperLiga championship having been runners-up in four seasons. Its only major title is the Serbian Cup, which it won in the 2017-2018 season. This probably means that Quinley won't be as easy to call up for the Philippine women's national football team as previously because of the distance.
Yup we could have used Phil Younghusband's goal scoring expertise on this team. For one thing any PK would be a sure goal if he attempted it.
I was working out the math while walking the dog after the Philippines game wrapped. Regardless of the result between Palestine and Yemen, Philippines will have to beat Palestine in MD3 to secure at least 2nd place. In that scenario, seven points is enough to be one of the top five runners-up. I watched only the last quarter of the livestream. That Reichelt penalty was weak. But there should have been a 2nd penalty in the 82nd, 83rd, when a Philippine player was tripped just inside the box.
If Palestine only manages a draw against Yemen and the Philippines defeats Palestine the Philippines wins the group. If Palestine defeats Yemen and the Philippines defeats Palestine the Philippines wins the group again with 7 points. Their chances of making the Asian Cup is still within their grasp.
@rickie22 Any news of Fil Canadian MLS Whitecaps player Michael Baldissimo committing to the Philippines? I understand that in November 2021 he accepted a call-up to the Philippines for the re-scheduled 2020 AFF Championship tournament, but had to withdraw due to injury. Same question for fellow Fil Canadians Kadin Chung who plays for Toronto FC and Patrick Metcalfe who is currently playing in Norway with Staebek.
Baldisimo has been uneven this season with the Whitecaps: a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness with the manager's current system. He's only started three league matches, and was a sub in six others. That alone could be why he wasn't considered for the Azkals this time around. I've heard Chung has been doing well at TFC after helping Pacific win the CPL last year. I lost track of Metcalfe after the Whitecaps let him go at the end of last year.
It looks like the Philippines has no choice but to defeat Palestine in order to advance. Both the 2 last 2nd ranked teams(Malaysia and Indonesia) have easier assignments in the final round and can overtake the Philippines if they win those games. If the Philippines win against Palestine, they most likely win the group. If they draw or lose, and both Malaysia and Indonesia win their last game, they end up the last of the runnerups and out of the Asian Cup. With 6 points and their +6 goal differential, Palestine have more or less assured themselves a chance of being among the best 2nd placed teams, so they might not have the urgency to play their best game, but the Philippines cannot count on these.
The best players for the Philippines so far is Holtmann on offense, Etheridge in goal and Tabinas on defence. If the Philippines can keep another cleansheet against Palestine and Holtmann engineer another goal they still have a chance of advancing to the Asian Cup.
It seems like the Philippines will need to win to advance to the Asian Cup but I actually think they're positioned well to win. Etheridge is the highest quality goalkeeper in the tournament and Holtmann will probably be the best outfield player on the field for either team. Also, Palestine's demolition of Yemen was actually good for the Philippines, since Palestine will probably be content to play defensively and cede possession since they know even a 1 or 2 goal loss (+4 or +5 GD) will be enough to qualify as one of the best runners-up. From the looks of it, every other group will most likely have two teams with at least six points. Malaysia will almost certainly beat Bangladesh at home and Group A might even have three teams with six points if Kuwait beats Jordan at home and Indonesia wins over Nepal. If the Philippines tie, their best hope is that Kuwait and Indonesia can be held to ties, which is certainly possible since Kuwait-Jordan played out two scoreless ties in WCQs and Indonesia are only slightly better than Nepal in the FIFA rankings. Unfortunately for the Philippines they're stuck playing the first qualifier of Matchday 3 so every other team will know what result they need. If the Azkals do win, there will be a lot of exciting matches as all those teams with six points will be fighting for goal difference. In that scenario I see Hong Kong as the odd team out as they're playing against the group hosts India and I see them losing by at least two goals.
Interestingly the Serbian team gave her the #10 jersey which puts a lot of pressure on her to perform. She has scored 15 goals in 27 games for the Philippine women's national football team helping them qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup next year. Quezada is the 2nd Philippine women's sports figure to be signed in Serbia in the past few years a rarity for a Filipina playing pro in Europe. The Philippine's best women's basketball player Jack Animam who plays center for the Philippine Women's national basketball team was also signed by Serbian top tier club SPD Radnički last year and became their best player averaging 20 points and 14.3 rebounds per game before sustaining a season ending MCL and ACL injury.
FT Palestine 4-0 Philippines Yup. I don't think the PFF will renew Dooley's short term contract after this. Their only hope now with a -3 GD is that one of either Malaysia and Indonesia loses their game and both have easier assignments for their last game.