Football: Philippines coach Weiss remains cautious

SINGAPORE: Michael Weiss wants to take the Philippines to the Asian Cup finals in 2015 but, for now, the German coach's immediate task is to get the better of Singapore when the two teams meet on Saturday in their ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup semi-final first leg clash at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

The Azkals met the Lions twice in friendlies this year and won on both occasions and, even though 47-year-old Weiss would love to repeat that and take the Philippines to their first final of the biennial tournament, he remains cautious.

"Although the wins have given us confidence, the fact remains that friendlies are not the true reflection of a team's ability," he said in a phone interview with TODAY.

"Singapore are always a contender in the tournament. Sure, they didn't do too well at the last tournament two years ago, but they are two-time champions, and look at them now.

"They will have experienced players like (Aleksandar) Duric, (Fahrudin) Mustafic and (Daniel) Bennett to fall back on, while the likes of Shahril (Ishak) and Baihakki (Khaizan) have definitely matured."

But Weiss also feels that the battle in the midfield during the semi-finals will decide the outcome.

"Raddy (Avramovic) talked about the physical battle and the Philippines' style of play. I agree with him," he said. "We are not the fleetest of teams but we have the muscle to compete in midfield. That's where the battle will be fought and won.

Weiss - who has overseen the Azkals' rise up the FIFA rankings to 143 since he took charge in 2011 - also admits that his side have become a force in South-east Asia, with the inclusion of a long list of naturalised citizens who have been plying their trade in European leagues.

Even without 26-year-old Stephan Schrock, who has not been released by Bundesliga side Hoffenheim for this competition, he can still call upon Jerry Lucena of Danish club Esbjerg, Dennis Cagara (Karlsruher FC), Paul Mulders (ADO Den Haag), Juan Guirado (Racing Lermeno) and Netherlands-born Jason De Jong (former NAC Breda, now Stallion FC).

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 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sportsnews/view/1241522/1/.html

Philippines Ready to Write Their Own History

MANILA (7 Dec 2012) – If Philippines team manager Dan Palami has his way, the historical records of the AFF Suzuki Cup will have to be updated beginning with tomorrow’s match against Singapore.
While the Azkals have beaten the Lions in a previous friendly, the past records of this tournament certainly do not favour the Philippines.
And that’s what Palami wants changed. Responding to Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic’s comments that the Philippines will have to respect the Lions who are former champions, Palami said this: “Singapore is a good team and we must respect them. But tomorrow, we intend to write our own history. The team is playing well, we will be playing our second semi-finals in front of our own fans, this is a dream for us.”
“To be honest, in the last friendly with Singapore, we were lucky to get away with a 1-0 win. But in that match neither Singapore nor we had all our players available. Tomorrow will be a different game,” said Palami, adding that two more players had arrived for the match.
Angel Guirado and Dennis Cagara have received clearance from their German and Indian clubs respectively and will be ready to play tomorrow. Palami however warned that with their extra arrivals, playing Singapore would still be tough.
“We have 180 minutes of action and we have to be cautious. For the first semis, we hope to get full points here.”
Two years ago, the Philippines qualified for their first ever AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals, however, due to the unavailability of a proper venue in the country, they had to play their home match in front of 80,000 hostile fans at the Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.
“This time we have 10,000 fans cheering for us, that will be a big help,” he added. According to the organisers, tickets are selling well with the grandstand seats all snapped up.
 http://www.aseanfootball.org/v2/?p=11134

AFF suzuki cup 2012,Malaysia to face Thailand in semis

Jumping for joy: Azamuddin Mohd Akil celebrates after scoring Malaysia’s first goal against Indonesia during their Group B match Saturday. — AFP

Reports by SHAMSHUL FITRI and K. RAJAN - MALAYSIA made the critics eat their words with a rousing 2-0 win over Indonesia to book a place in the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
The Malaysian Tigers were written off following their 3-0 mauling by Singapore in the opening Group B match last Sunday. They stormed back into the reckoning by routing Laos 4-1 and, last night, made sure of their ticket to the last four with a scintillating display in a packed stadium.
Both sides started cautiously and the match suddenly came alive after the 20th minute when Azamuddin Akil sent the fans into a frenzy with the opening goal in the 26th minute. Three minutes later, the vociferous fans got their money’s worth when right-back Mahali Jasuli made it 2-0.
National coach Datuk K. Rajagopal was simply delighted with his side’s comfortable win.
“We started brightly and scored two goals in the first half, but it was still a tough match,” said Rajagopal.
“Indonesia were pressing for a goal despite being two goals down. I was telling my players to kill off the game with a third goal but we couldn’t get the breakthrough.”
Indonesia coach Nil Maizar took full responsibility for the team’s defeat.
“The players gave it their everything but it wasn’t good enough,” said a dejected Nil Maizar.
“I take responsibility for this defeat. We were playing well until we conceded the two goals in a three-minute spell.”
The win left Malaysia as Group B runners-up behind leaders Singapore on goal difference. Singapore beat Laos 4-3 in the other match to end up with six points and head the standings with a better goal difference.
Malaysia play Group A champions Thailand at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium next Sunday.
The match’s turning point came when winger Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor was moved to the right flank and Azamuddin went to the left.
Wan Zack’s link-up play with the over-lapping Mahali forced the Indonesian back-line to back-pedal.
In one of their marauding runs down the flank, Mahali sneaked past the Indonesian defence to send in a cross for Azamuddin to slam in the first goal.
Three minutes later it was Mahali’s turn to get on the score sheet when he burst into the Indonesian penalty box to score from a tight angle to double Malaysia’s lead.
Malaysia picked up from where they left in the second half and continued with their fast pressing game while the defence smothered Indonesia’s attacks.
Nil Maizar rang in the changes by bringing in the attacking trio of Andik Vermanshah, Tonnie Cussel and Jhonny Van Beukering to get back into the game but it yielded nothing.
Rajagopal also made changes by taking out the injured Mohd Shakir Shaari, Norsharul Idlan Talaha and Azamuddin and replacing them with Gary Steven Robbat, Amar Rohidan and Ahmad Fakri Saarani.
And towards the end of the game, the frustrated Indonesians resorted to rough house tactics but the Tigers kept their cool to seal their place in the semi-finals.
 http://football.thestar.com.my/2012/12/02/malaysia-to-face-thailand-in-semis/