Little Azkals to face Vietnam team today

The Philippine Under 14 football team known as the Little Azkals hope to improve its win-draw-loss record of 3-1-2 as the second format of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under 14 Festival of Football 2012 Southeast Asia Region starts today at the Stadium Likas in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia.

The second format will have all 22 members playing a total of 60 minutes.

All teams will still be divided into two with team 1 playing in the first 30 minutes and team 2 taking over in the remaining 30 minutes.

The Little Azkals will go up against Vietnam, which head coach Oliver “Bingbing” Colina considers a crucial match since they lost to Vietnam last year, 0-3.

“Once they (Vietnam) have the ball, we should not allow them to turn around so they cannot do their combination play,” Colina said.

Colina said when Vietnam is pressured, the team finds it hard to create its combination plays.

Because the Vietnam players are smaller in stature, Colina said the boys need to play hard and aggressive.

“They are not new to the high press because they always start their games that way,” said Colina, adding that the boys must use their speed in transitioning from defending to attacking.

Meanwhile, teams were treated to a dinner hosted by the AFC last night.