Quincy Kammeraad, Kike Linares hope to deliver for Philippine football in ASEAN Championship semis second leg vs. Thailand

In a refreshing turn of events, the Philippine men’s national football team remained in the running in the 2024 Mitsubishi Electric Cup ASEAN Championship semifinal anchored by debuting goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad and defender Kike Linares' brilliant showing.

The national team, which back in the 2002 edition suffered the most lopsided defeat in the history of the biennial tournament against Indonesia, 13-1, has fought long and hard to get here — now a win away from reaching the championship stage for the first time after five semifinal appearances.

This, following the Filipinos’ historic 2-1 semifinal escape victory against Thailand on Friday night before a packed Rizal Memorial Stadium that saw a 52-year losing streak come to an end.

Despite losing keeper Patrick Deyto to a right knee injury as well as captain Amani Aguinaldo to suspension due to accumulated yellow cards, they emerged victorious thanks in part to of the efforts of Kammeraad, who kept a clean sheet as a replacement for Deyto in the Filipinos’ 1-nil win against the Indonesians in their last group assignment that afforded them a top two finish in Group B.

“I think it's huge. The win is something that Philippine football needed. Obviously coming here we knew it was going to be a tough battle. But we saw now that this was something special, something we can build on for the long term program. We had to come out of this game alive. We did well, we are still alive. For Deyto, it was tough. For me also,” Kammeraad said in a scrum interview.

“But job is not done yet, and we hope to get it done in Bangkok,” he added.

The 23-year-old Filipino-Dutch player has been part of the national team since 2017 when he was called up to the under-19 squad, which he said has helped him to navigate his new role in the seniors’ side that requires sustained display of mental toughness.

Heading into Thailand for the second leg of the semifinal, Kammeraad is hoping to steadily deliver once more as the Filipinos hope to make it all the way through the championship.

“All we have to do is win. Same as here. It’s obviously gonna be different, I expect it to be tough. That’s why we needed our supporters at home, you can see what kind of boost they give us. It’s sure not gonna be easy on Monday,” he said.

In the same way, Linares, who slotted in the header in the 90+5’ stoppage time past Thai keeper Patiwat Khammai, truly did not disappoint and bailed the Filipinos out of another 1-1 draw.

With fellow defender Aguinaldo expected to rejoin the squad for the second leg in Bangkok, the 25-year-old Filipino-Spanish player will likely continue lending offensive help that they sorely need to pull off another stunning win against a revenge-seeking Thailand side.

“I’m so proud of the team. Also happy for myself. It was my first goal here for the national team. Now let’s see in the second leg. Paul [Tabinas] assisted me and I threw everything [I had]. Lucky for the team it went inside,” said Linares.

“We know Amani is an important player, he’s the captain, he has more experience here. We followed through with the plan of the coaches, we won the game,” he concluded.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News