Middle East football powerhouse Kuwait Al-Azraq defeated the Philippine Azkals 3-nil in their first leg match for the second round of 2014 World Cup Brazil Asian Qualifiers held at Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadion giving Al-Azraq breathing room for their upcoming second leg on July 28 that will be held at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
The early breaks came to the Azkals as Phil Younghusband was able to beat the offside trap and was one on one with Kuwait’s Goalkeeper, Nawaf Al Khadi, who was forced to a good save by Phil’s strike. The ensuing set piece saw Angel Guirado’s header hit the crossbar from Chieffy Caligdong’s corner kick and then the follow up header by Jason Sabio was cleared of the line by Hussain Fadhel.
Al-Azraq was quick on the counter attack, that led to the first goal of the match when Yousef Naser opened up the scoring for Kuwait on the 16th minute mark. Fahad Al-Enezi eluded Manny Ott and Chieffy on the right wing and then sent a cross into the box that was met by Yousef’s head at point blank range that sent the ball past Neil Etheridge.
Another chance came for the Azkals when Phil hit a shot from 35 yards which started from a throw in by Anton del Rosario to Angel who then made a nice through ball to a running Phil, the shot forced a another nice save from Al-Khaldi with the slightest of touch that sent the ball into the crossbar.
At half time the score was 1-0 for Al-Azraq, but the momentum shifted to the home team in the course of the second half as Kuwait coach Goran Tufegdzic adjusted the team’s strategy and enforced more pressure to the Azkals defense. Shifting Al-Azraq’s attack from right to left, since during the first half Ray Jonsson was on top of his game giving solid defense against Hamad Al-Henezi, the shift of attack yielded a good result for Al-Azraqs as most of the chances came from the left flank.
Al-Azraq’s second goal was scored after a scramble in front of goal from a corner, Mesad Nada’s header was save by Neil but Azkals’ defender were not able to clear and then Mesad was able to put a touch to the ball from an awkward position rolling the ball into the goal. The second goal seemed to drain the strength of the Azkals as Al-Azraq kept on pushing for more goals for the remainder of the match.
The pressure of the home team gave them a third goal five minutes before the end of the match, Fahed El-Ibrahim was left with plenty of space 20 yards from goal, he then unleashed a powerful shot pass Neil to make it 3-nil for Kuwait.
With 20 shots from the Al-Azraq they could’ve easily went on a goal frenzy, if not for the solid goalkeeping of Neil, add to the fact that the Philippines was on the defensive from the opening whistle.
- Kuwait – Philippines – Second Round – 2014 World Cup Brazil Asian Qualifiers
- Sri Lanka and Philippines Drew First Leg
- Sri Lanka Versus Philippines – 2014 World Cup Brazil Asian Qualifiers
- Prohibited Items – World Cup Qualifying Match – Philippines Versus Sri Lanka – July 3, 2011
- Philippine National Football Team “Azkals” Advances
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Reply to eLfshimmeR