By all accounts, Justin Baas should have been the happiest man in the Philippine Under-22 National Men’s Football Team, only for that joy to be sucked away nearly 40 minutes after.
The Filipino-Dutch player gave the Azkals a lifeline with a stunning strike against Myanmar in the first half to level the contest. Unfortunately, the Filipinos then conceded another goal deep in the second half for a 1-2 defeat in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2019 SEA Games, Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
“Of course, (I’m) very disappointed because I think we were the better team, especially in the second half. First half, we did not do really good but… Second half really good and, yeah, we just gave it away. Two against one (is the score) and we tried hard to come back,” commented the 19-year-old centre-back.
“We fight for everything, every point, every win. It was just hard to fight back in the two against one.”
And there frustration lined every inch of the Jong AZ player’s face.
This game should have been another landmark result to propel the Philippines closer to a first semi-final appearance in the regional meet in this millennium. Alas, it just wasn’t meant to be the Azkals’ day.
“In the second half, we had the chances to make it 2-1, 3-1, or maybe 4-1. We had the chances so we had to score and we didn’t score. And then they scored, of course ,and then it’s hard to come back (after that),” said the 6-foot-1 defender.
Nevertheless, the outcome — while indeed disappointing — should not take away from Baas and his goal. When he shot past Myanmar goalie Sann Sat Naing, Azkals fans erupted in joy, and he even had an interesting way to mark the moment.
“I was very happy, of course, because I talked with Scott Cooper from the first team, the head coach, and he told me before the game ‘You’re gonna score’. And then we said we’ll do the celebration, the phone call celebration,” he narrated.
“I was looking for him but I couldn’t find him. He is now here but I was very happy of course. It was my first goal for the national team of the Philippines. I was very happy with my goal, and I’m very happy to score for all these people and this country.”
With just a point after their two assignments in Group A, and games against Malaysia and Timor Leste left, Baas knows that only two straight victories are good enough if he and the Azkals want to reach the final four. The gauntlet has been thrown and it is up to them to find a way and pull off the results.
“Every country is difficult to play (against), and they have other types of playing (styles) so we just keep our heads up and (there are) two more matches to go. We fight for the two matches and we must win the two matches.”
