CHEERED on by 13,000 screaming fans and playing on familiar ground the Philippine Azkals trounced Sri Lanka , 4-0, in a rain-soaked match at the Rizal Football Stadium to advance to the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait.
A few days ago the Azkals were held to a 1-1 tie in Sri Lanka.
Swashbuckling Chieffy Caligdog of the Philippine Air Force started the scoring spree by bouncing the ball off the left goalpost and into the net early in the first half. Later, Phil Younghusband eluded the Sri Lanka goalkeeper to slip another goal to push the team ahead, 2-0. And it was only the first half.
Just like the game in Sri Lanka the game was physical from the start until the end. Both Aly Borromeo and Stepahn Shrock were sent off after being issued their second Yellow Cards.
In the second half, Angel Aldeguer Guirado also eluded the over-eager Sri Lanka goal keeper, who challenged his attacker too early, to hike the score to 3-0 for the Philippines. Phil Younghusband finalized the score at 4-0, when he drove the ball just below the crossbar from a penalty kick.
The reward of the Azkals will be to advance to the next round of World Cup Qualifiers facing Kuwait in a similar two leg match later this month.
So are the Azkals for real? Well, let’s see what happens when they face the Kuwaitis. Because then, the Azkals will be playing against a superior team. If the Azkals beat the Kuwaitis then and only then can we truly say that Philippine football has indeed improved.
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The past Wimbledon was a monstrous disappointment for me after my two favorite players—Maria Sharapova and Rafa Nadal—both lost in the finals. At least, it was my second favorite men’s player in The Joker Novak Djokovic, who won it all.
Djokovic grabbed his third Grand Slam title by soundly beating defending champion Nadal, 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, in the final at the All England Club. Ever the comedian and probably overcome by the moment, the second-seeded Serb then dropped to his knees on the ground, grabbed on the lawn and pulled out a few blades of grass and gasp, put them into his mouth.
“I felt like an animal,” said Djokovic in a published report. “I wanted to see how it tastes. It tastes good.”
Funny guy, this Djokovic. He’s also been virtually unstoppable posting a 48-1 record in 2011. His only defeat came in the French Open semifinals, when he bowed to Roger Federer.
Djokovic started the season by winning 41 straight matches, including winning the Australian Open title. His perfect 43-match winning streak, dating back to last year’s Davis Cup final, and perfect season came to end against Federer in the French Open semifinals.
Nadal has a better record against Djokovic overall. Before this year, Nadal won 16 of the 23 matches he played against Djokovic including all five in major tournaments. But that all changed this year. Djokovic actually beat Nadal in four finals in 2011 heading into Wimbledon , including two on clay.
In the Wimbledon, it wasn’t even that close. From the time Nadal elected to receive instead of serving, it was all Djokovic.
“He’s doing great. He’s doing a few things fantastic,” Nadal said in the same published report. “But I had to play better to win, and I didn’t today. I played little bit less aggressive. He played better than me. For that reason, he is the champion here.”
If watching the loss of Nadal was painful the fall of Sharapova, which came one night earlier last Saturday evening, was worse. Why not, when this Wimbledon afforded probably the best chance for Sharapova to win because of the early exit of Serena and Venus Williams as well as Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki.
But alas, it was not meant to be as 21-year-old Czech, Petra Kvitova beat Sharapova, 6-3, 6-4, in the women’s final.
“I don’t know about this, still. It’s still (an) unbelievable feeling,” said Kvitova in a published report. “Maybe I’ll accept it after, I don’t know, some days.”
Kvitova is the first left-handed woman to win the Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova, another Czech, who dominated the sport three decades ago. Ironically, the nine-time champion Navratilova was giving her two thumbs up from her seat in the Royal Box as Kvitova dominated Sharapova.
With Navratilova was another Czech in Jana Novotna. Both were in the Royal Box and congratulated Kvitova her after the match.
Kvitova was in tears after being congratulated by her heroines. No doubt following in their footsteps has been a long cherished childhood dream come true.