Philippines take on Thailand tonight in Manila for the 1st leg of the semi’s and they certainly head into this match as underdogs. But they are definitely no pushovers, being the first team to book their spot in the knockout rounds. The Azkals have been a solid unit thus far, especially in their first 2 matches; consistently scoring 4 goals against Laos and Indonesia but only faltering against Vietnam, who did give them a valuable lesson heading into the semifinal.
Thomas Dooley allowed the cat out of the bag during his pre-tournament press conference, saying that many of his players who were key in the last edition of the Suzuki Cup in 2012, have not been able to rekindle that form. But having said that, he did get a response from the old guns with Phil Young Husband leading the way, playing an instrumental role in the first two matches. Besides him, Ott, Bahadoran and Steuble have also been key in their attacking department though question marks continue to surround their performance against Vietnam.
Vietnam did give the Azkals their toughest test in the group and they were always second best in that 90 minutes before eventually succumbing to a defeat. Laos and a very disappointing Indonesian side did not trouble the defence of Thomas Dooley’s men, who have made the semis of the last two Suzuki Cup editions. Philippines’ back line had no answer to Vietnam’s quick attacking style, with so many pacy players spearheading their offence.
As far as their positives are concerned, the Azkals are the strongest side in the aerial department with physical presence all over the park, and if they use it to their advantage, it won’t be easy for the Thais to defend. Thomas Dooley has to make sure Chanatip Songkrasin and the prolific Adisak Kraisorn are kept tight considering that the Azkals will be looking to make full use of their set piece chances as well as counter attacks.
Kiatisuk Senamuang has not impressed me with his team selection in this tournament. Dubbed as the Zico of South East Asia, Kiatisuk has been tinkering with his line up and it has not turned out too well, despite them topping the group with 9 points. Despite having the most talented team at his disposal, he has failed to pick his best line up throughout the group stages.
In the first match vs Singapore, he opted to leave two of his best players in Chanatip and Adisak on the bench, opting for Kirati. But he did call upon them in the second half and they went on to be difference in getting the 3 points. It did happen again in the second match against Malaysia, when he left Adisak on the bench opting for Kirati. But this was before he made a panic change on the 39th minute after seeing Malaysia take the lead and Adisak went on to score with his first touch to level terms before eventually getting the winner for the Thais in that match.
Bear in mind that 80% of this Thai squad are still young but they had an impressive Asian Games, making it all the way to the semis. It is going to be an uphill battle for the Philippines to make it to the final and with that said, my money is on the Thais to make it to the final.
Catch Stanley Bernard Samuel in Fox Sports Asia’s exclusive coverage of the AFF Suzuki Cup clash between the Philippines and Thailand later tonight!
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