This is the reality Filipino booters have to face when they battle fancied Indonesia in the first of two semifinal legs in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The hometown crowd will be immediately felt by the visitors once they set foot inside the cavernous 80,000-seat stadium, which is expected to be crammed by legions of rabid Indonesian football fans while many of their 242-million countrymen will be glued to their TV sets to witness what was supposed to be the Philippines' “home” match.
This unfortunate situation happened after ousted Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President Jose Mari Maritinez yielded hosting rights, citing the lack of facilities that would meet AFF standards.
The second leg is set on Sunday at the same venue.
The game marks a first for the “Azkals”, as they are popularly called, who registered 5 points on a win and 2 draws in the group stage in Vietnam on their way to clinching a maiden semifinal appearance in the 14-year history of the tournament.
While they may only have a handful of supporters in Jakarta, they are aware of the tremendous support back home, which they felt after returning from their Hanoi stint, highlighted by a monumental 2-0 upset of defending champion Vietnam.
“It’s a tough task [winning against Indonesia] made even tougher by the fact that the crowd will be behind them,” said team manager Dan Palami. “But the team knows that we have the entire country behind us as well.”
“What we have done the past year boils down to these two games.
The players are ready. They have worked hard to reach this level,” added Palami, who has bankrolled the team since last year.
The duel will actually pit the best attacking and best defensive team of the tournament. Indonesia has scored 13 goals so far with 5 players scoring two goals each, while the Philippines has conceded just one.
This is largely due to a stout backline composed of Robin Gier, Ray Jonnson, Anton del Rosario and team captain Aly Borromeo, who have parried every conceivable bombardment of their previous high-scoring foes.
Filipino-British goalie and Fulham mainstay Neil Etheridge's net-minding has also been solid since the Philippine campaign began in the qualifying stages in Laos.
British coach Simon McMenemy said there will be no change in tactics on the part of the Filipino booters.
The Filipinos pack their opponent’s attacking third, while trying to score on the counter-attack led by Phil Younghusband.
“We are just playing to our strengths,” said McMenemy. “We are not equipped to change tactics. We are not yet at that level.”
On the other hand, the Indons will lean heavily on the attacking duo of barrel-chested Cristian Gonzales, a Uruguayan who was naturalized to play for the Indons before the tournament, and Dutch-Indonesian Irfan Bachdem.
The Indonesians’ attack is so deep that even star striker Bambang Pamungkas is now coming off the bench for the tournament.
“I think we are going to be okay as long as we give 100 percent,” said McMenemy.
The Filipinos will try to buck a history of futility against the Indonesians, who have beaten them thrice in their head-to-head clashes in Southeast Asia’s men’s soccer championship, including a stinging l3-1 whipping at the same stadium in 2002.
But with the proper logistics, coaching and training provided by businessman Palami, the Azkals have shown they can hold their own against the region’s big boys and have succeeded beyond all expectations – and in hostile territory at that.
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