Fair Play: In for the long haul

This column will come out on Sun.Star Cebu on July 25
LIKE I said, before going into the first leg of the World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait, I wasn't worried.

Aside from the fact that thousands of kababayans were cheering for the team, making them feel at home, there’s nothing to be worried when the other team is expected to win just by showing up, right?

A 2-0 loss, I thought, wouldn't be too shabby. Heck, I half expected a miracle, that we'd score, accidentally against Kuwait, the toughest team a Philippine football team has faced in the modern era.

Yep, when the other team is expected to win, there are no worries, for me.

So, I told myself, don’t be disappointed if the Azkals lose—the goals will come. Mighty Kuwait will find holes in the Azkal defense and losing isn’t exactly something new for a football fan, right?

But doggone it! Just 10 minutes into the match, despite being on the defensive end for most of the time, I could see the Azkals, winning.

I thought we could win this thing.

We should win this thing!

And that was a big surprise.  To be thinking of a win against mighty Kuwait when just an hour earlier, a narrow loss would have been quite an achievement.

We were 1-0 down in the first half, when it could have been easily 2-1 for us if not for that plucky keeper and that freakin’ bar.

Footballers joke that hitting the bar intentionally is the hardest thing to do in football and by golly we hit that darn bar twice. 

And then there was Phil Younghusband. Surprised, perhaps, that he wasn’t called offside in the game’s first real offensive opening, the lone striker up front sprinted down the 20-yard box, tried to beat the keeper but instead got foiled by a foot-save.

Aaah. If only Phil blasted it right, or even dared to chip if over the advancing keeper….

Then in the ensuing corner, Angel Guirado—who took so many tackles that would have hospitalized a weekend player—let loose a powerful header that bounced off the bar.

Kuwait, perhaps shocked that the minnows were taking the initiative offensively, fired a counter that resulted to a header getting past Neil Etheridge.

1-0.

And yes, if only team captain Alexander Borromeo was there, he could have cleared it. He would have cleared it. Easily. Same with the two goals in the second half, Ali’s six-foot frame would have prevented it.

Then, just before half-time, Phil found an opening in the defense and let loose a powerful 20-yarder that beat the keeper but not the bar.

That freakin bar again. Phil, being the designated lone striker, had to take that shot as the defense was closing in. But if only one player caught up with him to take that pass, we could have been level, 1-1.

But that is football. The Azkals created their chances in the first half but failed to take advantage.

Instead of 1-0 down, we could have been up, 2-1, if only...but then again if only your Aunt had balls, he’d be your uncle.

I was disappointed with the loss and more surprisingly, I was shocked that I was disappointed with the loss.

The team, and the fans, are in a whole new ball game. We really don’t know what to expect as we’ve never been here before.

Just eight months after the Hanoi Miracle, here we are in the second round of the Fifa World Cup Asian qualifiers, disappointed that we lost against a team that so dominated possession they could have redesigned the football, what with all the time they spent with it.

Down 3-0, the Azkals will be back home, against a team that hasn’t lost in eight matches now. But we haven’t lost a home match too, in eight games, dating back to 2006.

What will happen in the home leg? I really don’t know. But what I do know is this, the team and the fans will be in this, together. We’ll be, as the cliché goes, in for the long haul. Not just the home match.


Now if only I can be in every home match…