The Philippines' remaining "cards"

With the current form, the attack line consists of two wingers Reichelt, Schrock and captain Phil Younghusband who are irreplaceable unless injured. The defense line consists of goalkeeper Falkesgaard, defenders Steuble, De Murga, Alvaro Silva, Reed, with left back Reed being replaced when the Philippines needs to attack, playing 3 central defenders.

Substitutes: 1 goalkeeper, 5 players

In our opinion, the Philippines' starting lineup has only one change compared to the first leg. The 23-year-old German-born youngster Mike Ott (5) will come on to play alongside Kevin Ingreso (14), also a 25-year-old German-born, in place of central midfielder Manuel Ott (8)..Thus, compared to the group stage, the Philippines national team has replaced the central midfield pair, as John-Patrick Strauss was recalled to his club and Manuel Ott was injured in the first half of the first leg of the semi-final.

Captain Phil Younghusband (4) is still the visitors' biggest hope. Photo: Internet

Thus, in addition to reserve goalkeeper Patrick Deyto (16), Mr.Eriksson has exactly 5 players left on the field: That is center back Aguinaldo (12), 3 midfielders Iain Ramsay (7),Curt Dizon (19), James Younghusband (23) and striker Paul Mulders (22), 37 years old, of Dutch origin.

Except for injuries, goalkeepers and central defenders are positions that are rarely replaced, coach Eriksson only has 4 players to use for 3 substitutions, focusing on the attack. Perhaps the 70-year-old coach has never been in such a situation in his coaching career.

According to Philippine experts, 32-year-old British player James Younghusband (23) is still the most promising "card" to replace Bedic in recent matches. His brother James Younghusband plays as a winger in the 4-3-3 formation of the Philippine national team. In addition, 24-year-old British player Curt Dizon (19) can play as a left winger to replace defender A. Reed (31) in a 3-4-3 formation like the first leg.

Mr. Eriksson only has 1 substitution left for left midfielder Iain Ramsay (7) 30 years old Australian, young center back 23 years old Aguinaldo (12) and veteran of Dutch origin Paul Mulders (22) 37 years old, of course also reserve goalkeeper Patrick Deyto (16).Among them, the ability of attacking players such as Iain Ramsay andPaul Mulders is taller than the other two.

In the 4 group stage matches, the Philippines national team played with a 4-4-2 formation with the striker pair Phil Younghusband and Bedic, but in the first leg of the semi-final, coach Eriksson surprisingly played with a 4-5-1 formation with free play. In the situation where Reichelt scored, Phil Younghusband moved to the right to assist.

The three players Reichelt, Schrock, Bedic took turns playing the center forward position and Reichelt was the player who received the most balls on the right, where Ngoc Hai was guarding. If Mr. Park exploited many spaces behind the center backs De Murga and Alvaro Silva, coach Eriksson took advantage of the spaces behind Trong Hoang and Van Hau.

The role of brothersJames, Phil

Regardless of the formation, the two brothers, James Younghusband, 32, and Phil, 31, will be the main pillars of the Philippine national team. With their advanced age, coach Eriksson wants the two "veterans" (whose father is British (died in 2003), an accountant, and was born in the suburbs of London, and whose mother is a true Filipino) to not have to participate in physical torture.

Midfielder Huy Hung will likely be put on the field. Photo: Internet

In the first leg of the semi-final, Phil Younghusband dropped quite deep to do the construction work, while Reichelt, Schrock and James Younghusband became the three spearheads in the 3-4-3 formation. These are players over 1.80m tall, so aerial combat will continue to be a tactic that the away team maintains, even continuously applying to wear down the physical strength of the Vietnamese defense, waiting for mistakes. Surely this is also option 1 that coach Eriksson will apply at My Dinh Stadium.

If Paul Mulders is used, the Philippines team will use more of the hit-release tactic in the 16.5m area. Having been on the Philippine team for many years, being the second oldest player at the 2018 AFF Cup (after Brazilian striker Beto Goncalves of the Indonesian team), this player's playing experience is unquestionable.

Obviously, compared to the away team, Mr. Park Hang-seo has more options, because up to now, the Vietnamese team only has Van Toan and Hung Dung who are recovering from injuries. Not to mention, 40,000 Vietnamese fans are a great source of encouragement for the players.