SINGAPORE — The 1st leg of the Suzuki Cup 2012 between Philippines and Singapore showed me exactly what I thought would happen. It played out to a draw 0 – 0 but it was the performances of the players that caught my eye.
Whilst this was effective in the opening 30 minutes, you have to say
that the Philippines started to get to grips with that and then closed
ranks so that it wasn’t so easy for the Lions to use that attacking
threat.
For me, the performance of the back 4 was the key to the Azkals
keeping a clean sheet. The midfield was stout, but not expansive, but
the credit has to go to Rob Gier and Juan Guirado who were rock solid at
the back and kept the attacking force of Singapore at bay.
Ed Scapanio’s performance also needs to be mentioned, as the keeper
didn’t put a foot wrong for the 90 minutes. Once again upfront, the
Younghusband’s performances were not sparkling but they were steady.
Especially some of the players that I mentioned in my preview for
the game and a few new pretenders that stood up for their respective
countries.
I thought that the first half of the game belonged to Singapore.
They played attacking and expansive football and created enough chances
to win the game.
However credit needs to go to the Azkals as they came out the 2nd
half and really showed the spirit that they needed to, to make sure the
game will go all the way down to the wire and the 2nd leg this week.
For me, Singapore’s tactics were apparent straight from the off.
They pulled Alexander Duric out into a wide position to try and isolate
Carlos De Murga so that Singapore could get runners going forwards and
in behind the Azkals defense.
