Anton del Rosario's temper tantrum
MOST fans are wondering whether Neil Etheridge will play in Mongolia but for me, the bigger question is Anton del Rosario’s role in the Azkals in the second leg.
Will he play?
Will he be benched?
Will he even be named to the team?
After he was replaced late in the second half by Jayson Sabio, Anton threw a tantrum.
As he was walking to the bench, he slapped an energy drink that was offered by an official, forcing him to do a comical skip/dance to avoid getting wet. And before he sat down, anyone from the stand could see him murmuring.
He scowled, took a glance at coach Michael Weiss who was at the sidelines, and then raised both hands in that universal posture that says, “what did I do wrong?”
Del Rosario, in all my years of covering the team, has never been subbed, but that doesn’t mean he should expect to finish every game.
“If he was on my team, he won’t be playing if he shows such disrespect,” Graeme Mackinnon, that respected coach, told me.
It was disrespect and it was very disappointing to see it displayed in front of adoring fans.
I remember after seeing that tantrum I wanted Sabio to score that second goal just to put Anton in his place. But he didn’t need to.
Del Rosario has always been an asset with that powerful throw of his but Sabio showed he got an even more powerful throw. And in injury time, when Sabio threaded through two sleeping Mongolian defense to provide the key assist for Phil Younghusband’s goal?
All I thought was, “That's for you, Anton!!!”
“No superstars in my team!” didn’t coach Weiss say that a couple of weeks ago?
So, will Anton del Rosario play?
For me, that question is the more interesting one.
Will he play?
Will he be benched?
Will he even be named to the team?
After he was replaced late in the second half by Jayson Sabio, Anton threw a tantrum.
As he was walking to the bench, he slapped an energy drink that was offered by an official, forcing him to do a comical skip/dance to avoid getting wet. And before he sat down, anyone from the stand could see him murmuring.
He scowled, took a glance at coach Michael Weiss who was at the sidelines, and then raised both hands in that universal posture that says, “what did I do wrong?”
Del Rosario, in all my years of covering the team, has never been subbed, but that doesn’t mean he should expect to finish every game.
“If he was on my team, he won’t be playing if he shows such disrespect,” Graeme Mackinnon, that respected coach, told me.
It was disrespect and it was very disappointing to see it displayed in front of adoring fans.
I remember after seeing that tantrum I wanted Sabio to score that second goal just to put Anton in his place. But he didn’t need to.
Del Rosario has always been an asset with that powerful throw of his but Sabio showed he got an even more powerful throw. And in injury time, when Sabio threaded through two sleeping Mongolian defense to provide the key assist for Phil Younghusband’s goal?
All I thought was, “That's for you, Anton!!!”
“No superstars in my team!” didn’t coach Weiss say that a couple of weeks ago?
So, will Anton del Rosario play?
For me, that question is the more interesting one.
Comments
an issue that needs to be settled immediately.
Jason played well, but let's remember the second goal wasn't anything that we really did, it happened because the Mongolians basically stopped because they though there was a foul (taking nothing away from Jason's pass and Phil's finish).
Anton is one of the key leaders of this team, and that leadership along with his experience will be crucial in a match where conditions are going to be less than ideal. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll get the start (and should get the start) and that he'll have a great game.
I just hope that's he last tantrum we'll see from an Azkal
All the Azkals should stay grounded and check their heads and not get carried away with this few successes that we had recently. We are still far from being good to be honest and now we hear things like this. We wont go far if this continues. Even superstars like Drogba, Torres, Messi get subbed sometimes and I havent seen them act like that.