By Kokoy Severino
Philippines vs Vietnam
World Cup Qualifiers, Second Round Group F
Thursday November 16, 2023
Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
7:00 pm
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| Left to right: Kokoy, Kaya-Iloilo FC Head Coach Collum Curtis, and Philippine National Team defender Simone Rota after the AFC Champions League match on November 6, 2023. Rota is the dean of the current Azkals selection for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers on November 16 and 21, 2023. November 6 was Rota's 39th birthday. |
What continues to impress me over the years about
the Vietnamese football system is that their national team is consistently
comprised overwhelmingly of players produced in domestic youth academies, and
all are selected from clubs in their own national league. As such, with no
foreign-based players, Vietnam has been a perennial Southeast Asian
championship contender since the 1990's. Of the 14 ASEAN Football Federation
championship tournaments held, Vietnam has been in the semi-finals a dozen
times, a record equalled only by Thailand, the region's winningest country.
Vietnam has won the AFF title twice, most recently in 2018, and finished second
and third twice each. Vietnam's youth development system is obviously doing
something right.
Head Coach Philippe Troussier's arrival signals
a serious hunt for World Cup qualification by the Vietnam Football Federation.
The Frenchman brings with him a global resume three continents and seven
countries long, including the Japanese side that won the 2000 Asian Cup, earning
him the AFC Coach of the Year Award, finished as runners-up in the
Confederations Cup the following year, and reached the 2002 World Cup Round of
16.
In 2018, Troussier was brought on as Technical
Director of the PVF Football Academy in Hung Yen, northern Vietnam. Within two
years of his appointment, the Asian Football Confederation awarded PVF with a
3-star designation under the AFC Elite Youth Scheme, one of just three
academies in the continent to earn such a status, and the only one in Southeast
Asia.
Vietnam's developmental approach becomes evident
in 2019 as Troussier is appointed to the helm of the U19 national team, which
qualified for the 2020 Asian championship, albeit cancelled due to the
pandemic. Since this past March, Troussier has been heading Vietnam's U23 squad
as well as the senior national team, which he took over from the retiring Park
Hang-seo, whose managerial tenure beginning in 2017 is considered the most
successful period in Vietnam football history.
Under Park in 2018, Vietnam reached the Asian
U23 championship final for the first time, captured the AFF Suzuki Cup
trophy, and placed fourth in the Asian Games. They won back-to-back gold
medals at the 2019 and 2021 Southeast Asian Games, and finished as runners-up
in the 2022 Mitsubishi Electric Cup. Clearly, Vietnam is banking on Troussier
to continue this momentum through the 2023 AFC World Cup Qualifying tournament.
The entire Vietnam national squad Troussier is
fielding for this week's series of World Cup Qualifiers play pro ball in the
V.League 1, which is currently three match days deep into the new season. Many
of them are integral players of the "Golden Generation", as they came
to be known under Park Hang-seo, and were on the 2018 AFF Championship-winning side
that eliminated the Philippines in the semi-finals.
Goalkeeper Dang Van Lam is one of very few
players on the current Vietnam roster with experience on a foreign club. Born
in Moscow to a Vietnamese father and Russian mother, Dang started his youth
training at Spartak and Dynamo. At age 13, Dang moved to the Hoang Anh Gia Lai
academy in Vietnam. His pro journey took him back to the country of his birth
for brief spells, and then to top clubs in Thailand and Japan before joining
Quy Nhon Binh Dinh in V.League 1. Azkals veterans Schrock, Ott, Reichelt,
Ingreso, and de Murga likely remember Dang, who tended the Vietnam goal against
them in the 2018 Suzuki Cup.
With 75 caps, 30-year-old Que Ngoc Hai, who
captained the 2018 side under Park, leads a defensive line with loads of
experience. With over 40 caps each, 28-year-old Bui Tien Dung and 27-year-old
Vu Van Thanh are both near the peak of their careers. All three of these
defenders have a record of proven domestic club success, as well as
internationally throughout the Park era.
Likewise, Vietnam's midfield sports a trio who
have accumulated a list of international successes. Captain Do Hung Dung, who
currently features for Hanoi FC in the AFC Champions League, is another
prominent figure in Vietnam's Golden Generation. Attacking midfielder Nguyen
Hoang Duc was twice selected to the AFF Championship Best XI in 2020 and
2022. Defensive midfielder Nguyen Tuan Anh graduated from the Hoang Anh Gia Lai
youth academy that was built in partnership with Arsenal FC, and was one of
just a handful of Vietnamese players invited to train in London. With over 30
caps each and an age range of 25-30 years old, Do Hung Dung, Nguyen Hoang Duc,
and Nguyen Tuan Anh provide Vietnam with a formidable experienced midfield core
that have the capacity to dominate ball possession.
At the top of their offensive drive are two of
the deadliest strikers in Southeast Asia. Vietnam's all-time leading scorer in
World Cup Qualifiers Nguyen Tien Linh will be looking to add to his current
record of eight goals. His total of 18 international tallies leads the national
team, including six in the 2022 AFF Championship Mitsubishi Electric Cup to
finish tied as the tournament's top scorer.
Partnered with Nguyen Tien Linh on the forward
line is Nguyen Van Quyet, Vietnam's most experienced forward with 57 caps, 16
international tallies, and a plethora of domestic silverware with Hanoi FC for
whom he has scored 103 times in 258 appearances.
No doubt, Coach Troussier is bringing a Vietnam
team to Rizal Memorial Stadium Thursday with plenty of quality and momentum,
poised to improve upon their aggregate -32 goal differential in World Cup
Qualifying.
But the Philippines will not be facing anything
they haven't seen before. Since 1991, the two Southeast Asian neighbors have
faced each other 11 times in competition. Vietnam owns the series with eight
wins. The only two Philippines victories came in the 2010 and 2012 ASEAN
Championships. Since then, the Azkals have lost four straight to the Golden
Star Warriors, most recently 0-1 in a friendly last December.
But there is a lot for the home fans to be
excited about when the Azkals take the field on Thursday night.
The return of Head Coach Michael Weiss after nine years gives us much
reason for optimism. Weiss first assumed the Azkals head coaching
position in 2011, taking over after Simon McMenemy's brief but historic tenure
that sparked the Philippine football renaissance with an unprecedented run to
the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals. The Philippines' upset of hosts and defending
champions Vietnam in the group stage of that tournament made players like
Etheridge, Caligdong, Greatwich, and the Younghusbands overnight superstar
celebrities back home, and "Azkals" became a household word.
Under the
first Weiss managership, the Azkals compiled a record of 21 wins, 11
draws, and 12 losses on their way to a second straight Suzuki Cup semi-final
berth and a third-place finish in the now-defunct AFC Challenge Cup, arguably
the best period of Philippine football since anyone can remember. Reappointed
just this past June, Weiss brings refreshing familiarity after a
turbulent nine years during which the Philippines saw ten different head
coaches. The German is the third Azkals head coach
in 2023 alone.
Since Weiss's arrival,
the Philippines National Team has undergone a makeover. He has recalled some
old familiar faces to combine with and lead a fresh generation of Azkals. In
contrast with their opening opponents whose entire roster were developed in Vietnam's
youth academies and play professionally in their own national league, only six
of the 26 players selected by Weiss currently play their club ball in
the Philippine Football League and just four came up through the domestic youth development system.
Leading the Azkals veteran corps is the man
between the sticks Neil Etheridge, one of the most experienced goalkeepers in
Southeast Asia. Now 33 years old, Etheridge is the only current Azkal who was
on the historic 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup roster. With an accumulated 76 caps,
Etheridge has donned the captain's armband again and has quickly established
himself as the inspirational leader the country needs to reignite a run for
glory, elusive in recent years.
Going through the Chelsea and Fulham youth
academies in England, Etheridge signed with Fulham's senior squad in 2006 and
then bounced around on loan with different lower-division clubs, finally
landing at Cardiff City in 2017. It was with Cardiff that Etheridge had his
most successful years, making almost a hundred appearances as their starting
keeper and helping the Welsh club gain promotion to the English Premiere
League, thus making history as the first Filipino player in the EPL.
In 2020, Cardiff released Etheridge and he signed a multi-year contract with Birmingham City in the EFL Championship, the second tier of England's professional system. Through COVID-hampered seasons and ownership instability at the club, Etheridge has seen very little action since signing with Birmingham, which is a cause for some serious concern.
Etheridge has not played competitive minutes at club level since last August, a revolving door of managers preferring to start John Ruddy in all league ties and inserting Etheridge for the fewer and further-between cup competitions. With the arrival of Wayne Rooney last month as Birmingham's latest manager appointed by the new American ownership, of which Tom Brady the most successful American football quarterback in history is a minority stakeholder, it doesn't seem like much will change for Etheridge at Birmingham, and he remains on the bench for league matches.
Nevertheless, Etheridge is a bona fide starter
for the Azkals under Weiss,
and the entire country is pinning our hopes on him.
At 39 years old with 31 caps,
defender Simone Rota is the dean of this Azkals squad. Adopted by an Italian
couple after being left at the doorstep of
a Parañaque convent as an infant, Rota grew up in Europe and
played pro ball in Italian and Swiss lower divisions until he came home to the
Philippines. In 2014, Rota signed with Stallion Laguna in the United Football
League and never looked back. Now anchoring defending PFL champions
Kaya-Iloilo's backfield, Rota brings a distinctive grit and tenacity to the
pitch, a sense of perseverance against the odds born out of hardship. During
his down-time, Rota volunteers at the orphanage that took him in as a child.
His maturity and experience in the current AFC Champions League campaign will
be critical in stabilizing the Azkals backline against the prolific Vietnamese
striking duo, against whom the Philippine defenders will have to stay
particularly disciplined.
In Santiago Rublico can be seen the potential of
every pure-blooded Filipino to succeed and excel just given the right
development program and philosophy. Imagine what the country can achieve if
youth programs such as Atletico Madrid's were made available to the masses here
in the Philippines.
Another young Azkal added by Coach Weiss is 21-year-old midfielder
Pocholo Bugas, one of the four Philippine development system products on
the team. A graduate of Far Eastern University, Bugas made 24 total appearances
in the PFL for United City from 2020 to 2023, helping the club win the Copa
Paulino Alcantara trophy and logging crucial minutes in eight AFC Champions
League matches. Bugas joined Angkor Tiger in the Cambodian Premier League
this year, and has appeared in all ten of their matches so far this season.
One of the pleasant surprise
recalls by Weiss is former Azkals captain Stephan Schrock, who he
convinced to come out of international retirement. Born in what was then West
Germany before the Berlin Wall came down, Schrock's Filipino single mom,
originally from Maguindanao, worked multiple jobs to support him and his sister
growing up in the city of Schweinfurt.
To get through the difficult
circumstances of his childhood, Schrock started playing football at a very
young age with the local youth development program, eventually acceding to
Greuther Furth, signing his first professional contract at 18 years old with
the Bundesliga 2 club. Already at that age, Schrock demonstrated an astute
sense of ambition and loyalty by repaying his first professional club with
several contract extensions to help them gain promotion to the Bundesliga top
flight, which he achieved in 2012. During those years, Schrock represented
Germany 16 times at the youth level before making his full senior Azkals debut
in 2011. After one-season stints at Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt, Schrock
returned to Greuther Furth who loaned him to Ceres Negros FC in 2016 and he stayed in
the Philippines for the rest of his professional career, putting up stellar
numbers for club and country.
Through six seasons with
Ceres and United City, Schrock won four PFL championships and a Copa Paulino
Alcantara, was a key figure on the national team through 60 caps and six major
continental and regional tournaments, and saw action in two AFC Champions
League competitions. Schrock was awarded the Mr. Football most valuable
player award twice and made the AFF Best XI in 2019.
At the end of the
2022 AFF Mitsubishi Cup tournament, Schrock announced his
international retirement and has since continued contributing significantly to
Philippine football through the Azkals Development Team, Azkals Development
Academy, and CF Manila where he does double-duty as playing coach. If Rublico
and Bugas represent the future of Philippine football as players, Schrock
represents it as coach.
However, even at 37 years
old, Coach Weiss clearly believes Schrock still has a valuable role to
play on the international pitch, at least for another go at World Cup
qualification.
The most capped player on the
Azkals roster is also their leading scorer. At 35 years old, Patrick Reichelt brings
80 caps of international experience to the top of the Philippine formation. The
German-born striker was on the Azkals roster that finished second in the 2014
AFC Challenge Cup, which also included Schrock, Rota, defender Daisuke
Sato, fellow forwards OJ Porteria and Kenshiro Daniels, and backup
goalie Patrick Deyto, all of whom have been recalled by Weiss.
Born in East Berlin less than
a year and a half before the Wall came down, Reichelt developed through the
German youth system and spent the first part of his club career in the minor
echelons below the Bundesliga. Arriving in the Philippines in 2012, Reichelt
made an immediate impact with Global in the UFL and spent five seasons with
Ceres where he scored 52 goals in 82 appearances. He has split the rest of his
time between the Thai League 1 and the Malaysian Super League, the two most
competitive leagues in Southeast Asia. However, Reichelt's playing minutes have
been sparse with his current club Kuala Lumpur City FC, making only seven
appearances this season.
Aside from the lack of
competitive club minutes from some of his veterans, I am sure Weiss has also
considered another concerning factor - the aging core of his selection. The
average age of the four Azkals strikers is 32.25 years old. One of them,
Bienvenido Marañon is 37. Pitted against a Vietnamese defensive unit whose
average age is 24.4, the Philippines is giving up some speed in the forward
third, which is critical in the Azkals' preferred long-ball style. Weiss will
most likely need to start his two younger forwards on top - Porteria and
Daniels, who are 29 and 28 years old respectively. Once he subs either of them out for one of the thirty-somethings, the Azkals forward line will slow down significantly.
Likewise, the Philippine midfield is facing an
age mismatch. Six of the ten midfielders Weiss has selected are upwards of 30
years old. The only twenty-something midfielder with significant international
experience is Mike Ott, who is 28 with 37 national team appearances.
Twenty-three-year-old Justin Baas only has 13 caps, while Bugas and Oskari
Kekkonen have fewer than ten each.
The oldest Vietnamese midfielder on the other
hand, er foot, is captain Do Hung Dung at 30 years old, and he has been capped
37 times. All of Do's co-midfielders are in their twenties, and two of them,
the aforementioned Nguyen Tuan Anh and Nguyen Hoang Duc already have over 30 international
matches under their belts.
Another concerning factor is the home crowd. It
is my hope, just as it is the hope of the entire Philippine Football
Federation and every single Filipino, that the stands are not just full of
Philippine supporters, but full of noisy, raucous, vocal, animated Philippine
supporters. I guess I've grown too accustomed to watching club and
international football matches abroad, where the crowd noise level is constant
and fans turn out by the thousands sporting their team colors not just on their
bodies but on their faces. I am not used to the dead silent audiences such as
at recent club matches at Rizal Memorial and Biñan. Even when facing foreign opposition in the AFC
Champions League and AFC Cup, the foreign crowds show up and outyell, outcheer,
outsupport the home side of the stands. Football matches in the Philippines are
often too quiet, like people are there to watch a recital.
The Azkals need to constantly
feel and hear the spirit of the Filipino people during the game. Admit it or
not, we the people are part of the game; our presence or lack thereof affects
the game. And we must project our presence onto the field of play so that not
only our players, but the visitors also know we are there.
I like the PFF's 10K campaign.
But I really don't think it's enough to just be there. If the Philippines is
going to progress to the next round, and if we want to see more of Schrock,
Rublico, Rota, Bugas, Reichelt, Porteria, Etheridge, Sato and company, then
they need more than just us filling the Rizal Memorial stands. They need our
voices to saturate the atmosphere, our drums to beat constantly, our noise to
fill the stadium. The collective voice, the constant rhythm, the noise of
support are an essential component of a strategy that will catapult the
Philippines into the World Cup promised land.
With increased designated
places for the Asian Football Confederation in the 2026 World Cup, the Philippines' odds of qualification are better than ever. But if we - the home crowd - cannot
accomplish our part in the qualifying campaign, then the 2026 World Cup will end for the Philippines in 2024, on the day before Independence Day...
Philippines Men's National Team fixtures, 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asia Second Round Group F (all kickoff times local at venue):
November 16 – Philippines vs Vietnam @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 7:00 pm
November 21 – Philippines vs Indonesia @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 7:00 pm
March 21 – Iraq vs Philippines @ Iraq, venue and time TBD
March 26 – Philippines vs Iraq @ Philippines, venue and time TBD
June 6 – Vietnam vs Philippines @ Vietnam, venue and time TBD
June 11 – Indonesia vs Philippines @ Indonesia, venue and time TBD
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| Photo by Dad. |
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