Bringing in James Younghusband in the second half worked wonders for the Philippine Azkals who went on the offensive with his entry to get past Singapore, 1-0, in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup group stage on Tuesday night at the Panaad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City.
The presence of Younghusband in place of Mike Ott in the start of the second half strengthened the Azkals’ midfield, and set them up for their first win in Group B.
“We wanted another striker to be inside and that is why we changed. Because this was a very physically strong game and we needed a physically stronger player than Ott,” said new coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
This is why Patrick Reichelt had little trouble going past three defenders and scoring in the 78th minute.
The goal came after he received a pass from James’ brother Phil Younghusband.
From there, Reichelt got into a one-on-one with goalie Sunny Hassan and unleashed a right-footed shot from the center of the box towards the back of the net, at the bottome left corner.
Eriksson considers this an important win since the Azkals now share second with Thailand.
“It’s a very big win, a very important win. These three points are very, very important for us. I think we deserve it,” added Eriksson.
Over in Jakarta, host Indonesia won over Timor-Leste, 7-0, to share the same 1-0-1 win-draw loss record with Singapore.
The Azkals will next face Timor Leste in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
They are seeking to improve on their 2016 performance, where the Azkals did not make it to the semifinals.
Changes in the lineup losing the Alvaro Silva and Carli De Murga center-back pairing.
But Eriksson made a switch after Silva was not available for the match, because of passport issues.
And so Mulders was also inserted into the midfield with de Murga and Younghusband.