THE Philippine Azkals will show how hungry they are when they face the Indonesian Merah Putihs in their 8 p.m. clash at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan today.
Fil-German striker Stephan Schrock promised this before they went into practice for their coming game in the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup football tournament at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“There are some guys who have been there, and some guys are new. But the spirit of the Azkals is always there. When we have our backs against the wall, I think we do our best. And that’s what we’ll do tomorrow,” said Schrock, who is also known as Schrocky.
The Azkals badly need a win after the Singapore Lions, playing with 10 men in the second half, frustrated the Filipinos with a scoreless draw Saturday night in their opening game.
Beating the Merah Putihs will move them closer to one of two semifinal berths in Group A.
“We should win. That’s the bottom line for us. We need the 3 points,” added Schrocky.
Schrock almost scored twice for the Azkals with a 30-yard free-kick, which Singapore custodian Hassan Sunny deflected.
Then, his free-kick 25 yards in the 28th minute also got into Hassan’s hands.
Rookie Hikaru Minegishi also had a chance, but his right-footed attempt went wide in the 82nd minute.
Earlier, defending champion Thailand and Singapore square off against each other at 4:30 p.m., in what is considered as the biggest game so far in the tournament.
While the Thai War Elephants seek their second straight win, and the first semis slot, the matchup will renew an old rivalry between the two famous coaches—Thailand’s Kiatisuk Senamuang and Singapore V. Sundramoorthy.
Senamuang and V. Sundramoorthy regularly met on the field as players in the pitch in the 1990s.
Thailand is coming off a 4-2 win over Indonesia.
On the other hand, Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said he will be wary of two good players in the Indonesian roster—midfielders Rizky Porra and Andik Vermansah.
“We have to watch out for everybody. They have wing players, who are incredibly fast. They are fast, and can move up and down for 40 minutes,” said Dooley.
He added that strikers Boas Salossa and Lerby Eliandry can also make a difference for the team.
The Azkals will have two players coming back, one of whom is midfielder Martin Steuble, who served a one-game suspension following a red card he got in the semis two years ago. And then, there’s Fil-Japanese Kenshiro Daniels, who just recovered from injury.
Dooley believes that the team needs to be able to keep up with the Merah Putihs in terms on fitness on the field.
“I have told my players that the longer we stay in the tournament, the more we will improve. We have to try to play smart and get our fitness levels up,” said Dooley.
Over in Myanmar, Malaysia opened its campaign with a come-from-behind 3-2 triumph over Cambodia at the Thuwunna Stadium on Sunday.
They share the Group B lead with Vietnam, which won over host Myanmar, 2-1.
Games Today
4:30 p.m. Thailand vs Singapore
8 p.m. Indonesia vs Philippines