WIKING'S take, MALAYSIA 1-1 PHILIPPINES

So we tied Malaysia IN Malaysia and proved to the South East Asian elite that we are for real. I believe it was a great result considering almost half of our starting XI had less that a week to train with the team. We also faced the best crew that Malaysia could offer with the exception of one or two players. But there are so many things we could yet improve on as it seemed that for most of the game, we still relied on individual talent rather than team play. Here is how I saw the Azkals starting XI play.

Roland Muller(GK): I've seen many game review where Roland was the Man of the Match for the team. He was, after all the busier of the two GK's in the match. He had great saves and managed to blank the SEA's reigning champs. As I've written on my pre game rant ( http://wikingandtheazkals.blogspot.com/2012/05/wikings-take-philippines-vs-malaysia.html ) about Roland Muller, he has had the bad luck of playing with the SEAG U23 team and the then "experimenting" Coach Weiss. He really isn't but a hairsbreadth away from Neil's skills and he plays MORE competitive games with MSV Duisburg II than Neil does with Fulham's youth team. Expect more to his already improving play.

Carli(RB): What makes Carli so valuable with the Azkals is not only is work rate and pace, he also helps put pressure on the opponents defense when he overlaps and in combination with Ray Jonsson on the left offensive pressure is applied on both sides of the pitch. But in this game, it seemed that the Malaysian coach has scouted and chose his side as the weak link and thus the numerous attacks against him. Malaysias lightning fast left winger, Kunanlan Subramaniam previously gave Carli trouble in the first meeting we had with Malaysia earlier this year and even more so this time around. But soccer is a team sport and our mids had plenty of speed to burn, and notably Shrock, who assisted in controlling the rampaging Malay left winger. Carli barely survived if not for some timely saves by his team mates, he will learn from this experience.

Jason Sabio(CB): Another Azkal weapon scouted by the opponent. The Malays prepared for his long throws. Still a master of the last second sliding tackle and long throws on offense. I love his continued improvements and his "game face". Can be easily beaten if he times his tackles wrong but its hard to argue the result, no goals from the home team.

Rob Gier(CB): He played as the deepest CB. Had numerous stops, especially on the right side. Excellent game from Rob. Rarely beaten this game but both CB's got fooled a few times by some masterful dummy plays by Malaysia

Juani(LB): Played out of position out of necessity. Wasn't able to support the offense and in tandem with Carli with overlaps like Ray Jonsson does. It helped that most attacks did not go his way. Exceptional aerial threat especially against the shorter Malay team. Had a saved goal at the 57th minute when Muller miscalculated and stepped out of the box. Another personal observation: he is like Rob Gier in that he also calls out what he sees on the field to his team mates.His knee injury might limit his playing time with Indonesia or worse.

Manny Ott(HM): A boy no more! By pure hustle, he outperformed the highly regarded Mulders in the midfield. He surprised me by his fiery demeanor as we've always seen "angry bird" as the kid in the bunch with always a friendly demeanor. Showed passion, ball handling skills, pace and great work rate. He was among the very few who shined in the SEAG 2011 debacle. No wonder he received a 2 year contract extension from FC Ingolstadt.

Stephan Schrock(HM): When Marwin Angeles subbed in for Chieffy, he seemed to have moved to the left back. Most everything we expected of Stephan came true. He once again showed his superior pace, work rate and skills on and off the ball. He was a threat on offense AND defense. Amazing. Having said that, it seemed that he was about half a step ahead of his fellow Azkals all game long. If he plays with the national team, he needs to realize, the rest of the boys are not Bundesliga players. I can say more but to summarize, he needs to play with this team more often or the certain disconnect he has with his team mates will continue. He was the best midfielder in this game, Malaysian or Filipino.

Chieffy(LW): A shadow of his former self. Gone are the days when he befuddled opponents with his extreme acceleration. While Kunanlan was fast going straight, our Chieffy was fast, straight or turning. Chieffy had numerous aimless passes to the box and clearly was frustrated by not being 100%. Like Angel who previously suffered from a similar letdown from injuries no doubt Chieffy will be ready come the Suzuki Cup.

Angel(RW): Once again had the majority of touches for the Azkals. While he manages, I wonder if a simple touch pass would be better than charging into a crowd of defenders and/or holding the ball too long? Its hard not to notice that he tires himself out by over dribbling the ball. Good news? He still plays defense. He also uses his height and larger physique very well. A hard worker on both sides of the ball.

Paul Mulders(AM): An enigma to most, being somewhat "quiet" in his play since the Challenge Cup. A Dutch Eredivisie attacking center mid, one would expect much more from him. I though he played very well in the CC but since his minimalistic style of handling the ball as compared to the flamboyant Angel and James Younghusband's "connection" with brother Phil it seemed as though he was almost "invisible". Add Schrock in the mix and there just wasn't enough soccer balls to go around in this game. Or was he really invisible? I watched the game again to see what was going on with Paul and this was what I saw.

First half touches:

1:04 intercept, stopped a Malaysian attack

5:46 long pass to Angel, complete

13:29 strong shot-on-goal

15:50 touch pass, completed

16:50 pass, completed

22:19 header, FOUL

31:35 touch pass, complete

32:30 received a FOUL

33:11 mid range pass, missed by Chieffy

39:00 intercept, stopped Malaysian attack

45:21 header

45:49 intercepted by Malay player resulting in a Shot-on-goal, saved by Roland Muller

46:33 short pass, completed

As you can see, while he had more positive touches than negative, he rarely played as a true center attacking mid as he continually deferred to Angel and Schrock for the ball. Never demanding it and seemingly preferring to play second, or rather, third fiddle. he has the touch as we've previously seen but he needs to demand the ball or take it! He has a nose for the ball on defense and it showed in this game. He uses his larger physique well but indeed was too "quiet" or dare I say, timid for all his skill and stature.

Denis Wolf(FW): Its hard not to compare Phil with Denis and also have the "what if" question floating around, but for someone pretty new to the team I think Denis played well especially around the 30th minute when he had two great chances at goal though he "disappeared" late in the game. I still am of the opinion that he plays better defense than Phil. I expect Denis to get better the more he plays with the national team. Though he did not score against Malaysia this time, his play gives hope that he will get that ball rolling again and with Phil coming back for the Indonesia match, a Denis & Phil combo is a scary partnership for the opponent.

I did not include the subs Bahadoran, Christiaens & Araneta since they really did not have enough pitch time but I must say Marwin Angeles really really impressed me with his confident and effective play. From timely interceptions, confident ball handling, smooth passes and the occasional shots-on-goal, he IS the future at CM for the national team.

The Coach: I don't know what he could have done better except maybe more and earlier substitutions. It was a friendly after all and isn't that what it's all about? And what the hell was that Christiaens for Juani sub?

I have to ask? Who the heck designed our kit? It looked like a low budget high schools kit! Hello Azkal management, all it takes is a Google search for a kit that is at least worthy of a NATIONAL TEAM.

Good luck to the Azkals versus Indonesia!