Sorry Ryan: 5 points on PH vs. Laos

1.) One coach once told me that goalkeepers are either crazy or gay, and it's safe to say Neil's not gay. A few months after getting red-carded for an off-ball incident in the Challenge Cup, there he was again, rushing in (by the way, damn, he was fast!) after an incident involving Stephen Shrock.  He got collared by
three Laos players and had that "what-was-I-thinking-look" and if I was the ref, I would have given him a straight red, for being "pa-papel."

But seriously, we need a good back-up keeper because the Laos game, and that semifinal loss in the Challenge Cup, shows that it's easy to get Neil off his rockers.

2.) Misagh should stop hamming it up.  I don't know about you, but I blame Misagh Bahadoran for the first near fracas.  There are a lot of ways to roll after getting tackled, certainly spending a few extra seconds on top of a defender isn't the best one.

Yes, you could say, Misagh was just too spirited, playing for the flag, etc..etc..but hey, the same case is true, too, for the Laos defender who was playing in his home soil.

If Misagh did that same thing anywhere in the football hotbeds in the Philippines, he'd be lucky to escape with a soft tap to the chin. 

3.)  It was just a friendly.  It's great that the players were willing to give life and limb in a friendly, and though, I've often said there's no such case as "it's just a friendly" but damn, that match was just a friendly, no need to go all kung fu about it.  

Would you want all the TV stations of the Fifa member countries air the latest version of a football brawl?

4.) Wanted, strikers.  So, we have midfielders taking shots from beyond the penalty box and what does that tell you?  Rather than have the strikers botch their hard-earned chances, they'd take it themselves.

5.) The loss is a good lesson.  We learned we can play disciplined football against a powerhouse team such as Singapore, and we learned that, against Laos, a team we haven't beaten, and will be going through the Suzuki Cup qualifiers things can go downhill very quickly.

6.) (who's counting?) Here's a fact, footballers fall all of the sudden in the final minutes of a match that they are leading,
we did that.  Laos did that, so, let's not court a red card or a free-for-all by ganging up on players who Sottoes Cristiano Ronaldo?

7.)  Laos won, but good luck in the qualifiers. I hope karma bites you.

8.) I think the Philippines coaching staff got what it wanted in the three-match series, they've seen the team at its best
and at its worst.  

9.)  Next time ABS CBN says that match will be at 7 p.m., better ask, which 7 p.m.? 

10.) Will the PH matches in the former Paulino Alcantara Cup be aired at 7 p.m. (Philippine time?)

11.) Did Rob Gier just score his first international goal?