I don’t quite understand the rigors of
football, except that they have to score a goal against their opponent. Hehe. BUT…
that did not stop us from watching last Sunday’s match between the Philippine
Azkals and the Cambodian Angkor Warriors! They’re battling it out for a chance
to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup in Maldives next year.
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Players warming up. |
We bought the 100-worth tickets to the match.
Ate Anna and I were both with our brothers, RJ and Ephra. Kuya Third and his
son, Andre, also watched the match. Because they’re more avid fans than us,
they bought the 500-worth tickets. No worries though. We still had the same
view as we’re both on the bleachers side, the only advantage was that their
seats are right in the middle while we’re a little bit on the sidelines.
We’re quite excited mainly because it was our
first time to watch a live football game. RJ’s watching for the second time,
the first being PHL’s match against Singapore. We lost that game. Kuya Third
said Schrock wasn’t there to set their plays better, hence our loss. To better
understand, he’s like your point guard (i.e. basketball).
At exactly 7.30PM, the match started. Time
for some action! After several attempts from Angel Guirado and the rest of the
team to get the ball in, star player Phil Younghusband manages to get a goal by
the 25th minute. Hurrah! We suddenly saw ourselves cheering with the
crowd! Go Pilipinas!
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National Anthem. We get to hold the Philippine flag. |
Five more minutes and Phil gets another one.
Another one by the time the clock ticked for the 34th minute. How
awesome can he get? Brother said, he’s like saying “I love you” to Angel
Locsin. He was kinda devastated that the Scot got more pogi points to charm his
celebrity crush. Haha! I laughed and said that if a fourth consecutive goal
from Phil gets in, that’s Angel saying “I love you, too!” HAHAHA!
The fourth goal came during the 44th
minute. From rookie Javier Patino. :))) The 46th minute goal came
from Stephen Schrock. I was just amazed by how this guy manages to handle the
ball with his feet plus the plays he creates! Wow.
Patino pitched another one by the 55th
minute. 84th minute and Phil manages another one. By the 88th
minute, another Azkal goalie comes in courtesy of Carli de Murga. The game
ended with Azkals totally dominating the game 8-nil against the Cambodians.
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The lights suddenly go out. Power Fail. |
During the match, I observed that the Azkals
were playing quite aggressively, compared with the Angkor Warriors who were
pressed to be more on the defense. According to stats I saw from sports news
the next day, Cambodia attempted five shots to the goal, quite feeble compared
to the 24 registered by the Azkals. Also, despite the power interruption
(people on Twitter thought Beyonce would come out and perform on the football
field ala NFL) and the HEAVY downpour, the Pinoy players managed to display a
very good game.
Tonight, we’re up against a more “formidable
foe”—Turkmenistan, who also crushed the Cambodians 7-nil last Friday afternoon.
Brunei bowed out of the competition early on, giving each team an extra 3
points. With 8 goals last Sunday, we’re currently first place in our category totaling
for 11 against the Turkmens’ 10. Azkals would need to at least pull a draw
against their opponents tonight to secure a place in Maldives next year. :D
*fingers crossed for their win*
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Brother! |
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4-nil by halftime. |
Kebs na sa ulan! Hahaha! GO PILIPINAS!
PS:
Ok, so you may have read my post last time partly agreeing with Arnold Clavio’s
comments against the Azkals’ unseeming behavior against a woman. No, I’m not
retracting my points from that previous blogpost because I still believe that
men—whatever color their skins maybe—should know how to respect women. Mr
Clavio may have sounded he’s envying these good looking men, but I think he
made an incisive and insightful point on that issue. Anyhoo, I’m supporting
these guys’ game tonight. :)
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Game got halted for 30 minutes because of the HEAVY RAIN! We never got to finish the match because we're totally soaked. Finished the game at home. In front of the TV. |
Labels: 2013, 22, Arnold Clavio, Azkals, cambodia, experiences, football, philippines, sports