ASEAN Football Championship: 3 reasons why Singapore could only draw with Philippines

By Les Tan/Red Sports

Video copyright of World Sport Group

1. Wasted Chances
Singapore wasted enough chances in the first half to have led by at least 3-0 at the break. Noh Alam Shah had three one-on-one chances and either the goalie got in the way or his shooting was inaccurate. The striker had three opportunities to score in the first 18 minutes alone.

Shahdan Sulaiman had two great chances after that to score. He pulled down a Fazrul Nawaz cross but then skied his shot over the bar. Shahdan then found himself in a one-on-one with the Filipino goalie but the keeper got a hand to the ball and a Filipino defender hooked it away to safety.

The next best chance after that fell again to Alam Shah when Juma’at Jantan cut back from the flanks. With the ball rolling invitingly to him at the top of the box, Alam Shah scuffed the shot.

Aleksandar Duric, then had his chance but his shot from inside the penalty box was closed down by a defender.

In all, Singapore had seven good goalscoring opportunities in the first half alone.

In the second half, the most glaring miss was by Duric when, with five minutes to go, when his snap shot during a goalmouth melee was saved. The big man knew it was a chance he should have put away.

Duric’s goal though, was a lesson in scoring. He headed the ball with precision rather than power between the post and the Filipino goalie to score Singapore’s only goal.

2. Unable to Unlock the Filipino Defense
The Philippines organised themselves so well defensively, especially in the second half, that Singapore, even with four attackers in Duric, Alam Shah, Shahril Ishak and Khairul Amri (second half substitute), could not break them down.

Mustafic Fahrudin did a credible enough job with his midfield distribution to create chances and Shahdan Sulaiman did not put a foot wrong playing with Fahrudin in the middle of the park.

However, Fazrul Nawaz struggled on the right flank. He was substituted at half-time but his replacement, Md Ridhuan, did not provide any penetration or service of note from the flank. It is in such instances that you wonder what a difference Shi Jiayi, with his pinpoint crosses, would have made if he was in the team.

Captain Shahril Ishak, for all his dribbling skills, has a habit of not playing with his head up at the right time to make the telling pass, or take the shot.

The match commentator on Channel 5, Abbas Saad, also brought up the fact that the Lions were looking too slow in their possession game, with the Filipinos closing them down effectively in the last third.

The Lions are also missing John Wilkinson, a player who can hold the ball and provide creative penetration.

3. Not Your Usual Philippines
The Philippines are not the whipping boys of South East Asia football anymore. Not when a number of their starting 11 against Singapore have significant European football experience.

Filipino Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, standing at 1.91m, is a giant of a man who probably did not give Alam Shah a lot to aim at in those three one-on-one situations which the latter squandered. Etheridge played for the England U-16 national team and is a backup goalie for Fulham in the English Premier League.

The two Younghusband brothers in the lineup played for Chelsea reserves as recently as 2008 whlie Jason De Jong is playing for Dutch club BV Veendam in the Dutch first division.

Defender Robert Gier played for Wimbledon in the English Championship while Ray Jonsson is featuring for Grindavik in the Icelandic first division.

The Philippine Football Federation has certainly made people sit up and notice by exploiting the potential of the Filipino diaspora. Filipino law allows for dual citizenship.

Philippines Lineup
Neil Etheridge (British-Filipino)
Robert Gier (British-Filipino)
Anton Del Rosario (American-Filipino)
James Younghusband (British-Filipino)
Alexander Borromeo (American-Filipino)
Emelio Caligdong (Filipino)
Jason De Jong (Dutch-Filipino)
Chris Greatwich (British-Filipino)
Ian Araneta (Filipino)
Ray Jonsson (Icelandic-Filipino)
Phil Younghusband (British-Filipino)

Subs used: Roel Gener (Filipino), Joebel Bermejo (Filipino)