The Philippine Azkals played Sri Lanka Brave Reds on Wednesday, June 29, for the first round of the 2014 World Cup Asian Qualifiers. We were supposed to watch with a group of friends at the National Sports Grill in Makati, however, said friends who came up with the idea opted to spend the earlier part of the afternoon getting toasted and forgot to reserve a table. Great. Good thing we saw a friend who was already there so we asked if we could share his table.
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| NSG already full an hour before the game |
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| Azkals fans quiet during the 1st half . Sri Lanka had a goal (a free kick) from 30 yards on the 43rd minute |
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| People mingling during halftime |
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| And the crowd celebrates the equalizer on the 50th minute |
It's amazing how suddenly almost everyone is into football. There were a lot of chanting, cheering, people wearing Younghusband jerseys and guys with Azkals scarves that night. One has to wonder though if all these people really understand and love football or are just cheering because there are a few pretty faces in the team.
To sum up the game, I shall refer to a friend's text: "Horrible. It's more painful than a root canal."
Hopefully, they do better on July 3rd when they'll play in Manila and have home advantage.
