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Philippine Azkals fly back home from Kuwait


The Philippine football team Azkals had little time to "nurse their wounds" from a 0-3 defeat to Al-Azraq in Kuwait, as they have to fly back home to prepare for the second half of the game on Thursday in Manila. As he herded the players from their hotel to the airport, Ace Bright, coordinator and media liaison of the Azkals, said via Twitter, "There's no room for sadness. A lot of Filipinos came and supported the team. Felt like a home game. Filipinos in the Middle East are amazing." The first leg of Azkals' 2nd round 2014 World Cup Qualifying in Kuwait was at 12:30 a.m. Sunday (Manila time) and their flight back home was scheduled eight hours or so later. Aly Borromeo, who had to sit out the match expressed the Azkals' gratitude to fans who sent in their words of support. "Thank you so much to all the Filipinos who cheered us on! I have no doubt we'll take it to them at home!!" Ebong Joson, head of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) fan management committee, urged football fans in Manila to welcome the team at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). "This is only halftime! The other half will be on Thursday, July 28," Joson said before a crowd of over 200 gathered at a mall in Makati. That crowd exuded energy at the start of the match, but as the reality of the second and third Kuwait goal set in, there was some waning. But Joson was quick to re-energize the fans at the end of the match, urging them to continue believing in the team and to boost the Azkals' morale when they return. Though the Azkals will have home turf advantage in the next game, they need a reversal of fortunes to win the series. With the 3-0 grilling they got in Kuwait, they have to keep Al-Azraq from scoring and make more goals than the three their opponents made on their own turf. Few days to fill gaps University of the Philippines (UP) men's football team coach Andres Gonzales said the Azklas have to fill the gaps in their midfield defense and they have only a few days to do so. In Kuwait, they were able to "defend deep" around the goal to prevent the opponent from scoring, but "the back four defending line needs a lot of improvement" Gonzales said. In an interview with GMA News Online, Gonzales said the Azkals "were giving away too much space in between the side and central defenders." Among those deployed at the midfield against Kuwait early morning of Sunday were rarely-deployed Jason Sabio and Ray Jonsson, who filled in for the suspended team captain Aly Borromeo and second division Bundesliga player Stephan Schrock. "The Azkals defended deep because they were aware of Kuwait's technical superiority and speed advantage of their forwards and wingers," he said. "The intention to counterattack was clear but we didn't commit enough to it. Phil Younghusband was the lone option throughout the match. Midfield support was often missing," Gonzales noted. He explained that "giving more support to the forward line...could create more and better scoring opportunities." UP was the men's football champion in the last season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and is the alma mater of four members of the Under-23 national training pool. Gonzales is a member of the technical study group the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) tasked to analyze the matches of the Azkals. — LBG, GMA News

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