OVERCOMING huge odds, the Philippines finally won the game that mattered most late Saturday night, slipping past undermanned Indonesia 1-0 to advance into the semifinals of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup in front of a stunned hometown crowd at the Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia.
After three straight draws for the Pinoy booters, striker Bjorn Kristensen calmly converted the pressure-laden penalty off a handball violation inside the box in the 63rd minute, and relief goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad, who had a remarkable national team debut, did the rest.
Voted the Man of the Match, Kammeraad preserved the vital victory with his superb stint at the net after subbing for starting goalie Patrick Deyto, who had to exit on a stretcher four minutes into the match when he was tackled hard from behind by an Indon defender, clipping his ankle badly.
In an apparent poetic justice, the hosts were reduced to 10 men when skipper Muhammad Ferrari was sent off the pitch with a red card flashed by Japanese referee Takasaki Koji in the 41st minute after hitting Filipino counterpart Amani Aguinaldo in the throat with his right shoulder while being marked closely inside the box.
Kristensen, 22, left the match in the 69th minute after cooly converting the penalty kick, slamming the ball straight center past the outstretched hands of Indon goalie Cahya Supradi.
Kristensen took the penalty in lieu of Jarvey Gayoso, who scored the goal in the team’s 1-all draw against Vietnam in Manila.
But the charges of Spanish mentor Albert Capellas had to weather the loud Indon crowd of 17,000 and 113 minutes of nerve-wracking play before finally securing the win that vaulted them to second place in Group B with six points behind pacesetting Vietnam to return to the semis for the first time since 2018.
The Vietnamese thrashed Myanmar 5-0 in the other match at the Viet Tri Stadium in Viet Tri province to take the top spot with 10 points and will face Group A runner-up Singapore on Thursday.
The Filipinos take on Group A topnotcher and defending champion Thailand on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
“We came here to play in a very difficult stadium with a difficult team that had five days rest while we only had two days’ rest. The players were really tired so I am so happy for them to make this qualification happen,” noted Capellas with relief.
“For me, personally, I am happy for the (Philippine Football) federation for the support they have given these players. But just as we said, we will take it game by game. We play at home against Thailand and I hope the Filipino crowd will support us as much as they can because we will need that,” the Spanish tactician added.
“An amazing stadium; amazing atmosphere to make a debut. Then keeping a clean sheet, something we haven’t done yet in this tournament. It is truly something special,” Kammeraad said of his maiden appearance for the Nationals.
“But it was not only me but it was a whole team performance. Luck was on our side. This is what our country has been needing for a long time.”
While euphoric over the return semifinal stint of the country after an absence of six years, national team manager and former national team standout Freddy Gonzalez felt relieved that the Pinoy footballers had gotten over the hump.
“Honestly right now, relief. We really did it the hard way. To be honest, we should have had 12 points but first in the group and the ball really dug deep; we’ve played four games in nine days. These guys are really gassed but they pulled off an amazing victory that sent us back to the semis,” Gonzalez stressed.
“Now everybody is focused on trying to beat Thailand. So that is our focus now, to try to beat Thailand,” he said, adding, “You have to hand it to the perseverance of these guys, they never gave up but just kept on fighting. They really pulled it off today.
“But the job is not done yet. We just have to continue. We will have five days of rest against Thailand at the Rizal Memorial. So hopefully, the stadium will be packed and the fans will show up and really support the team.”
