The Philippine Online Chronicles

South Korean third tier team Incheon Citizen FC routed the Azkals United, 4-2, in a friendly match that ended in a penalty shootout in the Kia Rio Cup charity game at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium last night.

Incheon Citizen scored the opening goal in the 21^st minute from a kick by Bin Tae Wan in the first half. The second half of the match was highlighted by several attempts at goal by the Philippine side, particularly by Misagh Bahadoran, Chieffy Caligdong and newcomer Filipino-German Denis Wolf.

However, the Azkals failed to translate those attempts to actual goals because of the equally defensive play of the South Koreans. The Korean side also made a few shots at goal but were saved by Azkals' veteran keeper Ed Sacapano.

Just in the nick of time in the 89^th minute, Filipino-Italian Marwin Angeles from Laos FC, scored an equalizer from a pass by Bahadoran, disappointing the opponents' goalkeeper Hwang Sae Ha.

After the 90-minutes regulation time and a score of 1-1, a penalty shootout was carried out to determine which team will take home the Rio Cup.

All of Incheon's penalty kick takers slotted in the goals. Kim Hyung-Chul took the first goal followed by Azkals' Angel Guirado's shot that hit the crossbar. It was team skipper Chieffy Caligdong who has cut the goal margin to 2-1 after his left-footed shot hit the back of the net. Korea's Hong Min-Soo and Hyun Woo Lim took one goal each against Sacapano.

Azkals Ruben Doctora Jr. of Stallions FC managed to flick the ball in but Kwang Hui Kim also scored a goal. The Azkals' final chance of a comeback was crushed after Carli de Murga unleashed his shot way over the bar. The match ended in a final score of 4-2.

The selection of Azkals pitted against Incheon Citizen missed brothers Phil and James Younghusband who are both playing for the Loyola Meralco Sparks in the United Football League (UFL). Defender Anton del Rosario was also absent because of his commitment to Kaya FC that is set to face the Green Archers FC in a UFL match today at the University of Makati.

With the absence of key Azkals, among the players who stepped up during the match was Bahadoran, a top striker of Global FC and the Futsal national team.

Wolf also showed his class with his playing, but expressed disappointment for not scoring a goal after at least four attempts. “I think we had a great game. We are fighters… that's what supporters want to see from us,” he said.

Despite their loss, Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss commended the Azkals United for putting up a very good fight. “Taking in consideration with the problems that we had ahead of the match and that not all the members are together, I must congratulate the team as well because they showed they have good and fantastic spirit,” he said.

Weiss added, “I’m very happy with this performance. The young guys showed their fighting spirit, their never-say-die attitude and they showed no negative gestures.”

“I’m proud of this team that played tonight. Given only three days of training, this team played with never-say-die spirit and they showed no negative gestures. They showed what they can do and now we can have one more team to build up aside from the senior team.”

Icheon coach Lee Hyun Chang said the Philippine team gave them a close fight.

During half time a brand new 2012 model Kia Rio vehicle was raffled off by officials of the Phillippine Football Federation and major sponsor Kia Motors.

Proceeds of the benefit match will go to ABS-CBN's Sagip Kapamilya Foundation that is leading relief and donation efforts for the victims of Typhoon Sedong in Northern Mindanao.

Introducing Wolf

The match was Wolf's debut game for the national team. He started as a player for the youth team in Germany for the Germania Grasdorf and then moved to Hanover 96 in 2001.

Wolf mainly played for the reserve side in the Oberliga. In 2003, he managed to break into the first team making four appearances and scored one goal in the Bundesliga within the first half of the 2003–2004 season.

From 2006 to 2009, he played for Fortuna Düsseldorf, Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Magdeburg. Last year, he expressed interest to play for the Philippine Azkals through social networking site Facebook. He arrived in the country last January 9.

Photos by Pom Villanueva. Some rights reserved.