The dream is still alive for Philippine Azkals

Do you know what it's like to sit on the bench and watch your team get beat 3-0 in a roasting, hot pitch? Azkals Team Captain Aly Borromeo sure does. "It was hard to watch the boys from the bench," recalled Aly. The Azkals team captain was not available to play in the first leg of the second round of the World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait along with defender Stephan Schrock, as the two accumulated cautions in their games against Sri Lanka which resulted to an automatic one game suspension. Borromeo added the team was doing really well in the first 30 minutes of the match until Kuwait substituted their right wing and over loaded their left side, which caught the Azkals off guard. Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge recalled having to enter their dug-out after the match and see how disappointed his teammates were, but somehow, he knew that their fighting spirit is still there. They couldn't wait to get back to Manila. This is what they live for Before the game in Kuwait, Neil Etheridge tweeted: "These are the moments we live for". Now he said he will most probably say it again Thursday, believing that the team stays positive and focused on the task at hand. It was 40C in Kuwait and it did not getting any cooler as the evening fell, despite having scattered rains. This time, the weather is on their side. Etheridge added that playing the game in front of their home crowd will be a "massive" boost to their confidence. And while the Azkals have not lost a home game since 2006, Neil shared that the team still expects pressure. He, however, added that they are already used to it, so much so that they feed off energy from it. The pressure is what keeps them going. For Captain Aly, their goal is pretty crystal clear: all they need to do is be aggressive from start to finish, score early in the game to put pressure to the Kuwaitis. And when he returns on that pitch tomorrow to play alongside Stephan Schrock, the captain said we can expect a more cohesive and solid Azkals. We are just getting started Borromeo shared that Kuwait is the kind of team that knows what they're doing. They are a very experienced team, playing with each other on a regular basis, having 40 games a year, compared to the Azkals who only plays six to eight times a year. A lot of spectators are now doubting the Azkals and their "World Cup" dream, but Etheridge doesn't lose sleep over it, saying that they are actually doing a good job, thinking back at the state of football six months ago and that "football in the country will take time". He said the Azkals used to go up against teams with lower ranks such as Laos, Cambodia and Timor, and now that they are going against better teams such as Kuwait. The Azkals goalkeeper added that it is a distinct sign that they are progressing and taking steps forward. Both Borromeo and Etheridge believes that "anything is possible". They've done the 'impossible' before and they can definitely do it again. - RAF/JVP, GMA News