ULAN BATOR—The dream start nearly ended in a nightmare in this cold Mongolian capital.
Playing in conditions it had never experienced before, the Philippines banged in an early goal only to struggle the rest of the way as Mongolia scored a 2-1 upset in the second leg of their Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup pre-qualifying match Tuesday at the Mongolian Football Federation field.
But the 2-nil scoreline from the first leg in Bacolod last month and James Younghusband’s fourth-minute strike on Tuesday proved enough to propel the Azkals—on a 3-2 aggregate score—to the group qualifying tournament in Myanmar starting March 21.
The Azkals will play against Myanmar, Bangladesh and Palestine in Rangoon with the top two squads moving to the main tournament next year.
With three players from their regular starting 11 missing the match because of various reasons, the Azkals were unable to replicate their dominance in the opening leg as they groped for form in a game that was played in temperatures ranging from -5 to -7.
It took only four minutes for the Azkals to unlock the Mongolian defense as Chieffy Caligdong, who had blasted the first goal in the first leg, beat two defenders on the left flank, before firing his shot straight at Tseveensuren Ganbayar, who mishandled the ball.
Younghusband was quickest to react on the confusion and he tucked in the rebound in what could be the easiest of his four senior level goals.
Phil Younghusband nearly doubled the lead two minutes later when his curling shot from just outside the box went inches wide with the Mongolian keeper already beaten.
“I think we played just 60 percent to our potential,” said Azkals’ German coach Hans Michael Weiss.
“The performance of the team should also be judged based on the harsh conditions here. Its difficult when there’s a 50 degree difference in the weather you are used to playing in.”
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, who watched the match from the VIP box where Mongolian president Elbegdorj Tsakhia was present, said the Azkals should be lauded for hanging tough despite the freezing conditions.
His sentiment was shared by team manager Dan Palami.
“We would have wanted to win the game,” Palami said. “But to have, survived under these extreme conditions, we should congratulate our boys. We must now focus on the group stage in Myanmar.”
“I’m happy we got through. At any other day, another venue we would have beaten Mongolia. We must regroup and bring back that focus.”
“I’m happy because we progressed to Myanmar and I think that’s the most important thing,” said Araneta.
“Definitely the conditions took a toll on us,” said skipper Aly Borromeo. “Our reaction time was a split second later.”
And that split second proved critical when Mongolia equalized in the 22nd minute through skipper Lumbengarav Donorov, who appeared to be in an offside position pounced on some slack defending.
Growing in confidence and winning the midfield battle, the Mongolians grabbed the lead in the 36th minute when Bayasgalan Garidamagnai followed up his saved penalty with a strong close range strike.
It was another mental lapse that led to the penalty as Tsedenbal Norjmoo beat Jason Sabio to the ball, before the Filipino defender pulled him down just inside the area.
Korean referee Ko Hyung Jin was quick to point to the penalty spot and although Azkals stand-in keeper Eduard Sacapano guessed right to save the spot kick, he was helpless when Garidamagnai bundled home the rebound.
"Both goals were questionable. The first one was offside and the other I feel was just outside the box," said Weiss.
Apart from the marauding Mongolians, there was more concern for the Azkals when Phil Younghusband limped off in the 65th minute because of a suspected right hamstring tear.
With Borromeo patrolling central defense, the Azkals weathered wave after wave of attack in the second half and carved up their own only to watch them either saved by Ganbayar or go wide.
Ian Araneta forced a good save from Ganbayar in the 70th minute after a through ball from Anton del Rosario.
Simon Greatwich, who was lucky enough to escape with only a yellow card for a two-footed challenge on Chinzorig Amgalan 15 minutes into the second half, sent his shot to the side-netting after he was released by James Younghusband’s ball.
Ray Jonsson played brilliantly to disrupt Mongolia’s midfield play, despite arriving here at around midnight Tuesday.
“For me, Ray is our man of the match,” said Weiss of the Fil-Icelandic standout, who was moved to play the defensive midfield role after playing leftback in the second half of the first leg.
Weiss dedicated the match to the victims of the earthquake in Japan, where the Azkals trained for a week before the duel.
