NEIL ETHERIDGE SAFE HANDS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE AZKALS FROM UZBEKISTAN 1:0 DEFEAT

In a night that Philippines needed nothing more than victory against Uzbekistan in the FIFA world cup and AFC Asian cup qualifiers, Azkals faltered but the 26 years English League One club Walsall goalkeeper Neil Etheridge became a hero as he saved his 10-man Azkals from humiliating defeat.

The game started brightly as both teams came in with attacking intentions, however, it was the home side that had the first goal scoring chance as they came into a 1v1 situation with the Philippines number 1 who was brilliant in stopping the ball in the 6th minutes of play.

The moment which defined the game came in the 10th minutes of play when OJ Poteria who was instrumental in Kaya FC defeat of New Radiant of Maldives and Balestier Khalsa of Singapore in the AFC cup was shown a red card which we believe should have been a yellow for a tackle on the Uzbekistan player in their box.

With Azkals now left with 10 men, they dropped deep with every player defending. This invited Uzbekistan to come out in numbers in search for opener but the goalkeeper who was fantastic and exceptional through out the night was always there to make those safes that proved why he was invited.

As the struggle to cope continued for the Philippines Azkals, they managed to get the ball out of the defense to their attacker that had options but he decided to shoot from a distance in the 20th minutes but the shot was not strong enough to threaten the opponent’s goalkeeper.

The game continued with Neil Etheridge producing another safe when the back line allowed the ball to bounce and went over them for the home side striker to shoot. Etheridge produced yet another safe after safes until the half time as ball kept coming in from the Uzbekistan’s right wing.

Second half started and the home sides continue the pressure from where they stopped in the half with Philippines showing no attacking intention. They came close to having an opener with a flick header but Etheridge was too good to be beaten. Another long-range shot came in the 52 minutes and the safe hands was equal to the task.

With all the wonders from Philippines Etheridge and Uzbekistan missed chances, that break through came for the home side as they finally found the back of the net in the 59th minutes of play and left Azkals with a new mind set and approach.

With 1 goal down, Philippines came out with some counter attacking game that almost gave a fruitful result. But we believe they waited too long before putting pressure on the Uzbekistan which 59th minutes goal gave them a deserving 1:0 victory at the end of the full time whistle.

We understood that Azkals were one man down in a game that wining was the only option. The team should have taken risk by playing with 3-man defense so that they could still attack and limit space for Uzbekistan to build their attack.

We congratulate the whole team for the way they defended but the defending tactics was wrong for a game of that nature where scoring goals should have been the first priority.

Next game is against Korea DPR at Rizal Memorial Stadium Philippines.

Date: March 29 2016

Time: 8:00 pm