Azkals try to break Malaysian spell tonite

The Azkals set their sights on achieving something that hasn’t been done in more than two decades: Beat Malaysia in an international football match.

“We know that the last time the Philippines won against Malaysia was in 1991 and that’s a very long time ago,” Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said ahead of tonight’s international friendly at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Pinoy booters seek to recreate the winning feeling of the 1991 Southeast Asian Games at Rizal, where Norman Fegidero’s 83rd minute goal lifted the pre-Azkals Phl to a massive 1-0 upset of Malaysia.

Since then, the Filipinos lost the next three head to head duel with the Malaysians then played their rivals to draws in four succeeding friendlies.

“When it’s taken such a long time, you do think about this is the chance to change that. And obviously we want to progress and play against stronger teams and if we wanna do that, we have to beat teams that we haven’t beaten in the past ( like Malaysia),” said Phl skipper Phil Younghusband.

More than the revenge factor, the Azkals are motivated to pick up a W to jumpstart their preparations for next week’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. The Filipinos will kick off their ACQ bid against Nepal on Mar. 28 also at Rizal.

“We’re preparing for them (Harimau) like it’s the most important game. We’d like to win every game obviously, that’s why it’s exciting. We have our (ACQ) game against Nepal next and the best training exercise for that is this game (against Malaysia),” said Dooley.