Members of the Philippine men’s national team spent Christmas away from friends and family as the Azkals made their way to Bangkok for the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup clash with Thailand on Monday night.
It’s a sacrifice that the Azkals are taking in stride with an eye on the bigger goal of making their mark in the competition where the team has done creditably well in the last 12 years.
Getting their campaign back on track with a 5-1 drubbing of Brunei Darussalam last Friday night at Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Azkals face the daunting task of upsetting the War Elephants who haven’t lost to the Philippines in this tournament.
“It’s very important for this young group to bounce back,” said captain Stephan Schrock. Schrock, 35, noted the team’s average age drops considerably when he’s off the pitch.
The Bundesliga veteran made way for 18-year-old Harry Nuñez in the second half last Friday and the Azkals Development Team midfielder who fell in love with the game while at Tuloy Foundation was involved in the team’s fifth goal scored by Sebastian Rasmussen.
“Without me, the average age of this team is 21 or 22 so for me, I’m very happy with their progress and I’m very pleased for them,” said Schrock. “We got one foot back in the tournament.” The Azkals saw three first time goal scorers in the match against Brunei with Rasmussen, who was making his senior team debut, Sandro Reyes and Jhan Jhan Melliza all finding the back of the net. Kenshiro Daniels continued his fine form by scoting the opener to jack up his tally to three goals.
The Azkals, though, have little room for error against the potent Thais especially after they lost their first game to Cambodia, 2-3, last Monday. The Thais opened their campaign with a 6-0 demolition of Brunei in Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s a totally different game, with a totally different mentality that will be asked from us,” said Schrock who was part of the Ceres-Negros team that overcame Thai club Port FC in an AFC Champions League qualifier in 2020.
For one, the Thais are defending champions, winning a record sixth title last year in Singapore. They also have the deadliest scorer in the competition in Teerasil Dangda who has a record 21 goals.
“Thailand will ask us different questions,” said Schrock. “We will prepare for that and I’ll make sure the mindset is right.”
