We are probably the only country that bashes openly our team most of the time, online and in other platforms, with our opponents’ fans, especially when the Azkals are down. And most of them, sadly, were Filipino fans. Even during the livestreaming of the Azkals’ games, there were so many people bashing the team. These reasons and many more were already pointed out by so-called football experts in many online forums. Lack of preparation, no team chemistry, Gerrit Holtmann arrived late, it was the coaching staff’s fault, the Philippine Football Federation is also at fault, too, the team management is to blame, Schrock is not in the team, Thomas Dooley was out-coached and other explanations. Of course, there were so many reasons why we lost. And sorry to all stakeholders too,” he added. We apologize to the fans who have supported us and who had high expectations.
But we all have our responsibilities and we have to own up to our shortcomings. “Admittedly, I wasn’t involved too much in the preparations because of some business dealings that I had to conclude. He explained that if the team needs to improve and get better, the Azkals need to improve as a whole organization. Palami maintained that when he said everything, he meant everything - from the players, coaching staff and even the management team. We all have to man up to our own shortcomings,” Dan Palami, the Azkals’ team manager, told The Designated Kit Man. But no, I think plain and simple, we failed. Maybe I’ll use the tagline that we use in U.P. “Where do we go from here? We need to reassess everything. Indonesia and Malaysia likewise deserved to advance in the tournament proper after winning their respective last games. But regrettably, Palestine deserved to win. I thought the Azkals had a slim, but fighting chance coming from the morale-boosting win against Mongolia in the previous game. The first three goals were made by unmarked scorers. The team just watched Palestine humiliate them on the pitch. Which to me is the most disappointing of all.
After the Palestinian scored their first two goals in the first half, the team simply lost the will to fight back. It also exposed the team’s weaknesses, like a porous defense, the lack of communication in the pitch, our inability to adjust against bigger, better opponents, and that vaunted Azkal bite was missing the whole game. While a draw is the best we hoped for against the higher-ranked Palestinian side, the heavy defeat crushed the Azkals and the hopes of many that the team will advance to the tournament proper. The Philippines’ bid to return to the biggest football tournament in Asia next year ended in a 4-0 beatdown against group B winner Palestine last Tuesday in Ulaanbaatar.
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