The AFC Challenge Cup

In just a few more hours, the 2^nd leg of the Azkals’ qualifying match against Mongolia’s Blue Wolves will start.

Should they win based on the aggregate sore (to the football newbies, this is the total of the 1^st and 2^nd leg match scores), they take a spot in the Qualifying Group Stage.  If you’re confused on what the Qualifiers and Pre-Qualifyiers all mean and what it is in relation to the AFC Challenge Cup.  Well, I’ll try to clarify it for you…

The AFC, or the Asian Football Federation, has divided its member nations into three groups or categories, which are the:

Developed Associations – these are the best teams or the top of the group.  There are 15 nations under this which, of course, includes Japan, Australia, South Korea, etc., some of which have already played for the World Cup.

Developing Associations – these teams are not quite as good yet as the Developed Nations but already have strong football programs in place.  Obviously, they’re better than the Emerging Nations but not as good as the Developed Nations yet.

Emerging Nations – these are the teams that still need time to develop their football.  And yes, this is where we belong.

So anyway, in 2006, AFC decided to hold a competition for the Emerging Nations which they called the AFC Challenge Cup.  For me, this is a pretty good idea as it gives the new teams to try out their skills in an international competition but against teams of their same level.  I imagine, a team like Japan or Australia could massacre us in a tournament (although, in football, anything can happen).  This tournament (if I’m not mistaken) happens every 2 years. 

In the 1^st AFC Challenge Cup in 2006, there was still no qualifying stage.  This means that the teams were automatically qualified to join the tournament.  But in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, there is no direct or automatic entry to the tournament.  Basically, this means that the teams (even the defending champions and the runners up) need to play and win matches in order to be eligible or qualify to play in the AFC Challenge Cup tournament proper.

What makes this confusing is that there is a pre-qualifying stage in order to reach the qualifiers round, sorta like needing to qualify to the qualifying stage.  Confused?  So am I.  Here’s a simple way of looking at it:

Basically, the 12 highest ranked teams (Bangladesh, North Korea, India, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) plus the four winners from the Play Offs will compete in the Qualifying Group Stage in order to be eligible to play in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup tournament Proper.

The Azkals, are still trying to win the Play Offs stage in order to play in the Qualifying Group Stage.  So we’re still trying to qualify to qualify… I don’t think I’m making sense anymore, hehe...

In today’s game, the Azkals have a pretty good start coming in with two goals from the 1^st leg.

For the win:

Blue Wolves

• They should at least score three more goals than the Azkals in order to win

Azkals

• A draw could advance them to the next stage by virtue of away goals
• They can maintain their aggregate lead by not letting the Blue Wolves score more than 3 goals than they do

If that was confusing, maybe this would be easier to understand, below are score combinations showing which team can qualify to the next round.

Blue Wolves	Azkals
0	0
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	0
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
1	3
2	3
3	3
4	3
5	3
1	4
2	4
3	4
4	4
5	4
1	5
2	5
3	5
4	5
5	5



Highlighted in yellow means that that team will proceed to the Qualifying Group Stage.

AFC Challenge Cup: Philippines vs Mongolia 2nd Leg

Here's the sked for the 2nd leg against Mongolia...

LIVE TELECAST: March 15, 2011 @ 12NN (Studio 23)

Replays: March 15, 2011 @ 3PM (Balls Channel)

March 15, 2011 @ 7PM  (Studio 23)

March 19, 2011 @ 8PM (Balls Channel)

too bad for those who have work during the live game...

Azkals defeats Mongolia, 2-0

The Azkals' 1^st game for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier was amazing to watch with thousands of fans cheering for them. 

Here’s my “report” on the game (Before anything else, the number of shots on goal and the time mentioned below might not be very accurate, but I think it’s pretty close as this is based on my personal counting and tracking.  I guess we’re not at the World Cup or Champions League level yet with all the stats like Ball Possession Percentage, number of shots on goal against shots on target, etc available J.  I also hope I didn’t get the players mixed up.  I don’t have the names of the Mongolian players, so I’ll call them by number).

The starting line up for the Philippine squad is composed of Aly Borromeo (team captain, 11), Neil Etheridge (1), Anton Del Rosario (4), Rob Gier (2), Ray Jonnson (27), Emilio “Chieffy” Caligdon (co-captain, 13), James Younghusband (7), Jason de Jong (17), Phil Younghusband (10), Ian Araneta (23) and  Roel Gener (6).

Just as Coach Hans Michael Weiss planned, the Azkals came out attacking at the start of the game with skipper Aly Borromeo producing a shot on goal merely 4 minutes into the match.  From then on, the Azkals held on to this offensive strategy pushing back the Blue Wolves more and more into their side of the pitch.  Throughout the 1^st half, Azkals’ Del Rosario, P. Younghusband, Gener and Araneta had a total of seven shots on goal with a few on target.  But the Blue Wolves’ tight defense denied the Azkals’ goal attempts.  The Blue Wolves also had chances in scoring, although not as much as the Azkals, having only one shot on target that was blocked by Etheridge.  They twice broke through Azkals’ defense line but it was cleared by De Jong and the by Del Rosario, respectively.

The 1^st yellow card was awarded in the 14^th minute of the game with Mongolia’s Altantulga, for his challenge on P. Younghusband.  Altantulga would then receive another yellow card 6 minutes later for a free kick violation.  With two yellow cards, he was sent off the pitch.

In the last minutes of the 1^st half, Azkals’ Caligdong finally found the back of the net, scoring the first goal of the game during the 42^nd minute.  Right before the whistle was blown, Caligdon had one more shot on target but missed, hitting the post instead.

amazing ball control skils! chest trap, one touch on his left foot, setting it  up for a shot right between the goalie's legs

By 2^nd half, the Azkals intensified their offense generating 13 shots on goal (most of them on target) with Araneta contributing 6 of those shots.  But the Blue Wolves’ persisted in their defense and refusing to concede a goal.

The Blue Wolves lost two players to injury, number 5 in the 75^th minute and number 8 in the 79^th minute, leaving them down to 9 men.

The 2^nd half was also not without incident for the Azkals as P. Younghusband was booked for a handball violation earning him a yellow card.  But P. Younghusband redeemed himself by converting the set up by Sabio into the 2^nd and final goal of the game. 

great set up by Sabio

Here are my thoughts on the match (whatever it’s worth as I’m no expert, hehe):

The Azkals fought hard and strong and the final score could have been more with their countless scoring chances but the Blue Wolves really guarded their goal.

If I were to hazard a guess, ball possession was probably 65% Azkals and 35% Blue Wolves.

I don’t know anything about goalkeeping, but there were moments where Etheridge was just too high up the pitch for my comfort (I guess he probably got lonely in his post as his teammates were in their opponent’s side of the pitch most of the time)

Araneta was on fire during the 2^nd half with so many shots on target, too bad none of it hit the net… maybe in the next game..

I think the sports commentantors are so used to covering basketball games that one of them called it "free throw" instead of "throw in" without realizing it :)

I envy P. Younghusband's "banana kicks", I've always wanted to learn how to make the ball swerve when you kick it.

It would have been cool goal if that bicycle kick went in (was it Sabio who attempted that shot?)

Loved the combination of white shorts and a little light rain ;-) Would have even loved it more if some of the players swapped jerseys after the game, hehehe..

I wish I could’ve watched the match at the Panaad Stadium, it would have been great to be amongst fans and celebrate after the victory

The next qualifier game for the AFC Challenge Cup will be on March 15, still against Mongolia.

AFC Challenge Cup: Mongolia

We’re only a day away from the much-awaited AFC Challenge Cup game against Mongolia.  It’s pretty cool to see so much coverage for tomorrow’s match.  There’s even a live update on the on-location situation in Bacolod, a day prior to the match.  I don’t think local football ever got this much interest, let alone for a single game.  It’s almost as if I’m watching one of those major tournaments like Champion’s League or the World Cup.  J

Here’s the update on the Mongolian Blue Wolves:

They arrived last yesterday, February 7.  There isn’t much info on this squad technically (how they play as a team, their strategies and weaknesses) as they took a year off from international competitions.  Their last game was in 2009. 

What we do know is that they are ranked lower to our 152 Coca-cola / FIFA World ranking with 182.  The President of the Republic of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, recently met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter last January 26, 2011 to discuss football, the social role of the sport and pledging the government’s support to the its national association.

Their players are pretty young.  According to TJ Manotoc’s tweet, their star player is Tugsbayar Ganbaatar.

Tugsbayar Ganbaatar

Ganbaatar is the top goal-scorer of the Mongolian National Football team.  This 26-year old striker was part of the national squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifier Matches and has been with the squad since 2003.  He as played for the Mongolian Football Clubs Selenge Press Ulaanbaator, Khoromkhon and Erchim

They haven’t trained and practiced as much as the azkals due to their climate.  In fact, it is one of the challenges facing Mongolian football.  They have the lowest average temperature of any capital city in the world.  Their winters are long and cold while summers are short.  Their national team played four matches in Guangzhou, China to acclimatize to the Philippine weather.  They only get to test in the Panaad pitch today, before the match tomorrow.

Azkals’ German coach Hans Michael Weiss believes that Mongolia neither has the experience nor sufficient training for tomorrow’s game.  Given that and the Azkals’ home-court advantage, I still think it’s not wise to underestimate the Mongolian National Squad, you’ll never know what’ll happen.

Those of you who want to see the Mongolians in action (I guess this is from their old matches), here’s a site with a video of the Mongolian team.