Brave Azkals by Biantan

Biantan Brave Azkals - The Azkals showed us how brave they were in their clash with Mongolia in the second leg of their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup elimination match in Ulan Bator.

They lost 1-2 after 90 minutes of grueling match under extreme weather but still managed to advance to the group stage elimination tournament with a 3-2 aggregate.

The group stage elimination will kick-off in tropical Myanmar on Monday, March 21, against the host, then on March 23 against Palestine and on March 25 against Bangladesh.

The night before the Mongolia match, I was excited to watch it via live screening in the internet. I have already selected a website to watch the match. Then I put my alarm clock on.

The match was set here in London around 5 a.m. which is around 1 p.m. in the Philippines.

An hour before my alarm screamed, I woke up from a dream that the Azkals lost, surrendering four goals. I thought it could be possible.

When my alarm clock sounded, I just turned it off and resumed sleeping and telling myself: what is the use of watching the match with the Azkals losing by four goals? Besides I had a very busy day at work and I went home exhausted.

When I woke up at around eight in the morning I immediately opened my Facebook Pinoyfootball account. I thanked God and learned that they lost only by one goal and still managed to squeak into the group stage tournament. I wanted to punch myself hard. I missed the drama and the action. I missed one episode of the Azkals soap opera.

So all my accounts from that match would all be based from newspaper reports and TV Patrol and GMA-7 broadcasts from the internet. Not that I did not have confidence in the Azkals, but I really believed that a 4-0 thrashing from Mongolia was a possibility. Losing only one goal showed us how brave and tough these Azkals are.