PHIL Younghusband said the Philippine Azkals will go all out in their final group stage match against Kyrgyz Republic on Wednesday in the AFC Asian Cup.
The Azkals are still in contention to reach the round-of-16 but they need a big win over Kyrgyz Republic on Wednesday in Dubai in their Group C match.
Younghusband expressed confidence about the chances of the Philippines against Kyrgyz Republic especially with the match still days away.
“We have to win the next game,” said Younghusband in a story ran by the AFC Asian Cup official website. “We don’t have to go gung-ho at the beginning, but we know at some point we have to go for it.
“We’ve got four to five days before the next game, so we’ll have time on the training pitch to prepare for the game,” said Younghusband, considered as the face of Philippine football.
Like the Philippines, Kyrgyz Republic is still winless although the White Falcons have the superior goal difference.
The Philippines won two international friendlies against Kyrgyz Republic in 2016, but Younghusband said the Asian Cup stage is way different.
“We saw the highlights of the Kyrgyz Republic match against China and we’ve played them twice in the last few years. Played them away, played them home and we got two wins. But this is a different stage, they may have different players, we have different players. It’s a different arena,” said Younghusband.
Younghusband said the break will be beneficial to the team as he felt that fatigue set in during their three-goal loss to China on Friday.
“A lot of the players looked a bit leggy and tired because of the effort put in against Korea Republic. When you are tired, and you go 1-0 down after 40 minutes, everything seems a bit further and a bit slower. I definitely think the performance we put in against Korea Republic, especially the defensive side, took its toll against China,” Younghusband said.
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