A bit of improvement in their next game will most likely turn things around for the Philippine Azkals national men’s football team.
Acting coach Stewart Hall said this as the Azkals prepare to meet Timor-Leste on Saturday in the Group A hostilities of the 2020 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup.
“This team keeps on improving every time. We need to work hard against them. That’s my message to the players. Hard work, hard work, hard work,” said Hall a day before the Azkals’ second group stage match at 5:30 p.m. at the Singapore National Stadium.
The Azkals are seeking to bounce back from their 1-2 loss to host Singapore, which found its bearings in the second half and scored the winning goals in their encounter late Wednesday evening.
This time around, Scott Cooper will finally be able to join Hall in calling the shots for the Azkals after being absent in their encounter with Singapore.
Hall said during the early morning practice that the team may need to win all their remaining three games to be able to advance to the semifinals.
“The objectives now are quite clear to the players in the next three games. You may get lucky and get two wins and a draw. That may be enough. But you can’t rely on that. You’ve got win all three games,” said Hall following a Zoom huddle with scribes on Friday.
After Timor-Leste, the Philippines will next clash with Thailand and Myanmar on Dec. 14 and 18.
Singapore leads the standings after winning its first two games and is in contention for the semis.
Thailand, which also seeks to enter the semis, started its bid Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Timor-Leste.
Earlier, Hall said the squad did not have much issues in its game with Singapore. Peter Atencio
“We did okay. We did not have a bad game with the squad we got and the lack of preparation time. I thought the players worked very hard (during the game),” added Hall.