THE Philippine men’s football team took another small step in the right direction last Tuesday night as the young players struck, lifting the Azkals to a pulsating come-from-behind 2-1 win over Afghanistan before a satisfied hometown crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
With the hosts down 0-1 and apparently getting nowhere, German coach Michael Weiss made two key substitutions just slightly over 60 minutes into game that changed the complexion of the highly-bruising match.
Coming off the bench, striker Sebastian Rasmussen, 21, strode bravely from the mid-court and into the heart of the Afghan Lions’ defense, eluding three defenders for a left-footed marker from 10 meters to equalize the count in the 74th minute.
The goal pulled the Azkals level after the visitors scored the icebreaker 10 minutes earlier through Omid Popalzay, who took a long cross from the right wing and found goalie and Azkal team captain Neil Etheridge napping for a pointblank marker.
Coming in as a substitute at the same time as Rasmussen, forward Bienevenido Maranon showed his creativity as a facilitator, looping a long cross from the right wing that found unmarked defender Christian Rontini, 24, who rammed in a header inside the goalbox in the 81st minute.
The Azkals, who had several missed clear chances in the first half, finally triumphed after a frustrating 1-all draw against Chinese-Taipei in Kaohsiung last week.
The team’s show of resiliency left Etheridge, 33, who has been with the Azkals for 15 years, moved as he slowly walked off the pitch as the rest of his teammates celebrated.
“Kudos to the team. To be behind 1-0 and fighting back and winning. It wasn’t a beautiful game because we were a little bit cautious and, in a way, intimidated by the physicality of the opponent, which actually was what I wished from our side,” said Weiss at the post-match press conference.
“In Germany, we say it was a ‘dirty’ win, meaning you won the game despite the adversity and despite the problems that we had. So, for us this was fantastic. We had a better game in Taipei but at the end of the day, football is (still) a result-oriented sport so obviously I am very happy at the outcome,” he added.
Now playing for Persita Tangerang in Indonesia’s Liga 1, Rontini, a former member of the Azkals Development Team when he came to the country in early 20202, relished his first goal for the Azkals, made even more satisfying that it was also the winning goal.
“It is something special. It is something that players dream of, scoring for the national team. And tonight, we won. But it is not about me because football is a team sport,” said Rontini, whose mom is from Cebu. “It was a team effort because even if we conceded a goal we never gave up.”
Etheridge was relieved and satisfied by the outcome of the match, particularly after giving up the lone goal to the opposition.
“It (the goal) was not easy but pushing it aside comes from experience. The players in the dressing room respect my experience, respect the level that I have played at,” added the Azkals’ skipper of his lone lapse in an otherwise superb outing.
Afghan Lion coach Abdullah Almutairi acknowledged that his squad was demoralized following Rasmussen’s equalizer after playing on even terms and at times getting the better of the home squad for over 70 minutes.
