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Games this Thursday:
3:30 p.m.—Philippines vs. Tajikistan
3:30 p.m.—Brunei vs. Bhutan
ILOILO CITY, Philippines—In a position to pull off perhaps the biggest upset for Philippine football in years, national coach Norman Fegidero remains undaunted.
“Tajikistan is the team to beat here, but I’m very positive we can win against them,” Fegidero, a national team player from 1989 to 2001, said Wednesday.
Barely 24 hours before kick off, Fegidero already has a plot on how to break down the Tajikistanis in their potential knockout match for the only Group B slot in the AFC Challenge Cup.
“We need to frustrate them by defending very well,” said Fegidero, whose players will go into the 3:30 p.m. match with confidence after a brilliant display in a 1-0 victory against Brunei Tuesday.
“We’ll be a little conservative and we’ll only be going for quick counter-attacks if we get the chance. But our priority is to defend very well first.”
Tajikistan, ranked No. 155 in the world and winner of the inaugural staging of the tournament two years ago in Bangladesh, downed Bhutan, 3-1, in its opening match at the Barotac Nuevo Football Plaza.
The Filipinos, who dropped 10 places to No. 189 in the latest world rankings, have no recourse but to beat Tajikistan since they are still trailing the defending champion in goal difference.
“Tajikistan is a well-disciplined, well-organized squad,” Fegidero said. “The system of their game is already in place.”
But Tajikistan coach Kodirov Pulod was rather modest in his prediction, saying the Filipinos are also expected to provide a tough challenge, just like Bhutan in their first game.
“Everyone came here for one purpose and that is to qualify,” said Pulod, whose team will be led by skipper Irgashev Odil and Nurloin Davornov, who plays club football for Lokomotiv Moscow.
Fegidero is hoping that the condition of the pitch improves this Thursday, citing the soggy areas of the ISC that severely blunted their attacking options.
Because of Tajikistan’s height advantage, the Philippine coach said he might infuse a couple of changes in his starting 11.
“I might make adjustments in the forward and midfield positions,” he said.
Although he limped out of the Brunei match in the 66th minute because of a pulled muscle, skipper Emelio Caligdong, who scored the game-winner in the first half, said he is fit for today’s match.
And Caligdong, delighted over his appointment as captain of the team, has vowed another quality performance from the nationals, who battle Bhutan in their last match on Saturday at Barotac Nuevo.
Expected to start against Tajikistan are Phil Younghusband, Caligdong, midfielders Chris Greatwich and Robert Cañedo and the defensive line of Aly Borromeo, Jason Cordova, Joebel Bermejo, Anton Del Rosario and keeper Neil Etheridge, who made a promising start to his international career with the Philippines by making three important saves.
