Sports and life by the sports kibitzer : this blog was created for the love of sports and life...and all that matters most! Photo from 2014 Fathers' Day dinner with family in Boracay...
Don't look now but Mongolia has silently but methodically overtaken the PHL Azkals in the most recent FIFA/AFC rankings!
Based on the September 2011 AFC Zonal rankings, Japan is number 1 (FIFA 15) followed by number 2 Australia (FIFA 19), rank 3 South Korea (FIFA 29) , number 4 Iran ( FIFA 50 ) and China at number 5 ( FIFA 73)!
Meanwhile , Mongolia has gone up to number 31 in the AFC (ranked joint 163 with India in FIFA ) and the Philippines down at number 32 (joint 166 with Maldives in FIFA )!
Does that mean Mongolia has vastly improved since the draw with the Azkals early this year? I don't think so! If you check Mongolia's recent games, it has not played much nor won significantly since they beat the Azkals in March and Myanmar last June, both at home ! Their defeat at Myanmar last July, 0-2 , was their last official game.
On the other hand, the Azkals' 4-0 July home win over Sri Lanka was a big boost but their 2 losses to higher ranked Kuwait in the important FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches last July and subsequent draws tolled heavily on their rankings.While the win over Macau in the Long Teng Cup this October may earn big points for the next evaluation the loss to higher ranked Singapore, however, certainly will not help.
Below are the FIFA/AFC Rankings as of September 2011. Note that newer rankings will be released by mid-October.
So Azkals fans , how far has our team progressed since the team's performance in 2010 AFC Suzuki Cup ?
Well , we're now at 152 in the World and 28th in the AFC/Zonals Rankings! The Phl Azkals are still behind 149th Myanmar, 150th Netherlands Antilles and 151st Fiji based on the World rankings! While in the AFC/Zonals , we are behind rank 27th Myanmar, 26th India, 25th HK and 24th Singapore!
If I am not mistaken ,the team's best ranking was 150th back in December 2010 just after the AFC Suzuki Cup and our lowest was 195th way back in September 2006 .
With our AFC Challenge Cup home-away pre-Qualifying Stage 1st Leg win over ranked 182nd Mongolia ( Phl Team' rank about a decade ago!) this February and an expected win in the 2nd Leg to qualify to the Group Stage then chances are our team will rank higher in the next 2 months! It's a must though that the Azkals beat Mongolia at home for the 2nd Leg considering that the Blue Wolves are a lower ranked team . Otherwise , our ranking might slide down once again!
Assuming we sweep Mongolia in the home-away Qualifiers, we will join 149th Myanmar( 27th AFC) , 157th Bangladesh ( 30th AFC ) and 178th Palestine( 39TH AFC ) which were all automatically ceded earlier as Group Stage Entrants in Group A from 4 Groups ( 4 teams per group) for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifying Group Stage round-robin tournament in the 3rd week of March! ! The top 2 teams from each group then move on to the Group Stage ( 2 groups of 4 teams per group) for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup tournament proper!
So , that's a long campaign ahead for the Azkals and their success from this season's run-up to the AFC Challenge Cup will help improve their World/ Zonals ranking!
Philippine Team's Ranking History ( from FIFA ) Date FIFA Ranking position
February 2011 152
January 2011 153
2010 150
2009 167
2008 160
2007 179
2006 171
2005 191
2004 188
2003 189
2002 181
2001 175
2000 179
1999 181
1998 175
1997 175
1996 166
1995 166
1994 171
1993 163
Philippines average position from FIFA World Ranking creation is 175
10022011THE PHILIPPINE FOOTBALL TEAM
defeated Mongolia, 2-0 in the first leg of their 2012 Asian Football
Confederation Challenge Cup pre-qualifying match in Bacolod City. It
was all Azkals from start to finish. German coach Hans Michael Weiss
described it as “a good game.” Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge described it
as “my rest day.”
The national football team paid a courtesy call on President Aquino
Thursday. The meeting was fun and informative. The President advised
the young Azkals on how to enhance team unity. And the Azkals advised
the President on how to ‘achieve’ goals. The Azkals paid a courtesy call on President Aquino Thursday. When
the energetic Azkals arrived, the President cheered, the PSG applauded,
and the President’s speechwriter Mai Mislang fainted. The Philippine football team paid a courtesy call on President
Aquino. Upon entering the palace, the youthful Azkals felt so Filipino…
while the President felt like a lolo.
It would have been a big , big morale booster for the Azkals had the President watched the game but that's now water under the bridge!
Well , the Azkals won and they won brilliantly against Mongolia in the first leg of their qualifying matches! It was highlighted by that "nutmeg" of a goal" by Chieffy Caligdong at the 42nd and a half minutes of the game ! Unfortunately or fortunately , for the Pana-ad match organizers, P-Noy was a no show for the game owing to the more pressing affairs of the State but later congratulated the Azkals on their win!! There's no truth to the rumour though that he had a previous commitment with nephew Joshua for their own PSP qualifying matches...
Anyway , this is what P-Noy missed on the Philippine Azkals' 2-nil win over Mongolia last Wednesday : the nutmeg of a winner by Chieffy Caligdong!
See the video of that brilliant goal :
So P-Noy or no P-Noy , the match went on and the Azkals fly to Ulan Bator, Mongolia for the Second Leg on March 15!
As expected , the Azkals turned on the heat against Mongolia right from the very first second of the game with an attack on Mongolia's right flank by striker Phil Younghusband's dangerous cross that unfortunately had no trailers on the opposite side and chaotically cleared by the Blue Wolves defense! Obviously recognizing their offensive disadvantage against the more skillful and internationally sharpened Azkals, the Wolves resorted to playing compact , a defensive strategy similar to what Simon McMenemy and the Azkals effectively employed during the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup against more experienced teams like Singapore and Vietnam! So Mongolia put more men , sometimes up to 9 , on the box to thwart any Azkal penetration and then rely on a swift counter as a gambit . It was an all-Azkals offensive show, however, from the get go as they mounted the pressure from way up and down in the box which resulting to two quick yellow cards to a Mongolian defender (actually their midfielder) for an automatic red card and an ejection.
Down by a man less than twenty five minutes in the match , Mongolia shifteddefensive strategy as the Azkals pounded them with a barrage of shots on target. The more skillful Azkals though were obviously too overeager to score that first goal to please the almost 20,000 adoring fans who trooped to the Bacolod Pana-ad Park and Stadium in this City of Smiles ; thus, narrowly missing those "gimme" attempts!
And then it came and it came swiftly ! Left-winger Chieffy Caligdong , just lurking at the far post , calmly controlled an Anton del Rosario feed from way up the right flank to score off a chest stop, a left-footed soft flick and a strong right-footed volley that amazingly slipped through the legs of the Mongolian GK on the 42nd and 30 seconds of the game! So it was providential that hometown hero delivered the first goal at home for a fitting gift to the predominantly Ilonggo crowd , some coming from as far as Roxas City and nearby Iloilo City via ferry and RO-RO! It was rumored that Barotac Nuevo Football Republic even sent bus loads of fans and relatives of players via Dumangas port to support favorite sons Caligdong , striker Ian Araneta and swingman Roel Gener among others!
The second half was no different from first half play as the Azkals tightened on the noose all the more against the tiring Wolves with their brand new crisp passing game! This time though it was Araneta's time to pour it on as he hit crossbar after crossbar with his incursions inside the box! On the 65th, Araneta headed in what should have been another Philippine goal but unfortunately hit the bar! Then a minute later, in an attempt to break that long scoring drought , he simply flicked the ball over Mongolian defenders which unfortunately hit the post. Araneta even had a swift strike from the left which was parried off by the keeper in the near post. So the dry spell continues for Araneta and the Azkals have yet to score their second goal !
And then , from out of nowhere, substitute Simon Greatwich 's ( for Gener) beautiful " bicycle" shot off a pass from the right almost gave the Azkals a second goal towards in the dying minutes of the game but that , too, was slapped out over the bar by the beleguered Mongolian keeper.
Just when everybody thought that the final score was settled at 1- nil , substitute Jason Sabio ( for defender Anton del Rosario) weaved through the confused defense from the right flank then slapped a pass to Phil Younghusband who then struck with his right that was initially deflected but then blasted a lefty of a banana off the deflection for that elusive second goal on the 93rd!
So, 2-nil for the final count and the Azkals head north to freezing Ulan Bator , Mongolia on March 15 for the second leg !
Congrats , Azkals!
For more on the Azkals , here's FIFA's latest fixtures and results:
Japan
Australia
Korea Republic
Iran
China PR
India
Mongolia
Maldives
Philippines
Myanmar
Pakistan
