ESBF Five Points: The Philippines-Guam Affair

Days after the fated encounter between Philippines and Guam, there's definitely a few talking points that we can discuss. Now that the dust has settled, let's look at what's what. Here are five takeaways from the Philippines-Guam affair.

1) We maintained our unblemished record against Guam

It's no secret that we come to the matches the favorites. Our record against Guam speaks for itself. Since our first meeting in 2000, the Philippines had already been shown its growing fangs. We now hold a 5-0 win-loss record against them.

But that does not speak lowly of Guam at all. In fact their FIFA ranking had also improved through the years (although they are experiencing quite a slump right now).

And they can't use the "Fil-Foreign" excuse just as some of our other rivals clamor. Remember that we have started facing Guam in 2000, and Philippine Football resurgence happened around 2010.

2) Ángel Guirado is a Guam Specialist

Of all five matches, Guirado had been in three of them. And in all three meetings, he's scored. And because of that, he is now holding a perfect 100% scoring record against Guam.

Let me tell you now that in football that is no easy task. Consistently scoring against the same team with years in between would need skill, patience, and a little bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time.

And in this case, good ol' Ángel, the ball have always rolled toward him in favorable positions against them. And he's not one to shy from giving it a good hoof goalwards.

3) We need to find our shooting boots, fast

Given the fact that we were the heavy favorites, and remembering Guam's current form, the 3-0 scoreline can be considered a minimum scoreline for us.

Indeed we found the net in all of the times that we shot on target. But if we look at the numbers, if we watched the game, the coach said it, the fans knew it, and the skipper said it, we should've scored more goals.

We've had 12 chances at goal, a lion's share of possession, and we've beaten their lines time and again. But despite this, we still can't seem to find our sense of scoring goals.

This has been one of the other factors that the Azkals have definitely lacked since the retirement of the then prolific striker, Phil Younghusband. We're still waiting on the next Pinoy marksman striker to step up.

4) With this win, and Maldives' loss, we advance

Our victory against Guam couldn't guarantee our outright entry onto the third round. But it definitely paved the way for it should Maldives lose their own match against heavyweights China.

And we all know what happened there, right? So here we are, third in Group A with 10 points. With the threat over, it means that regardless of how tomorrow's (that's June 15) clash against Maldives turns out, we advance comfortably into the the third round of the AFC Asian Cup.

For now, we're gonna have to wait for the next FIFA World Cup to do better. We need to focus our sights on what's immediately before us. Asian glory, regional bragging rights, and history.

We already achieved our historical best by securing our tickets to the 2019 Asian Cup last time. And now we have the chance to do it again.

5) We can do better, we will be better

To the eyes of the casuals, a win is a win. But to the eyes of the faithful, we need to bare our fangs more. We need to win every 50:50 ball. We need to outrun their fastest runner. We need to be stronger in possession. We need accuracy and power in our passing. And we need that venom in our shots.

The fact that we have the potential to be one of the bigger teams in Asia is hope enough for those who's been following to keep up the faith. We're already past the part where we appreciate where we are based on where we've been. If 5 years ago we talked about how we aren't the whipping boys of Asia anymore, now we need to tell them that we are where we are because we deserve to be.

We need to show them that our achievements are not by mere luck or circumstance. It was through hard work and dedication despite our shortage in infrastructure and the size of our organization. While winning the Asian Cup is still too far a dream, competing, progressing, and bringing glory home is always within our reach.

We're looking forward to the Azkals wrap the second round of qualification as they face Maldives. And we look forward to the hurdles that we're yet to face once we step into the third round.

For now, we keep the Philippine Flag flying. Onto the next one!

See you on the touchline.