In eight short years the Philippines have gone from being happy just to be in the competition to now aiming to win the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Entering the 2010 edition the nation had only one previous win but the course of their football trajectory would forever be altered one chilly evening in Hanoi in early December.

In front of a sold-out crowd at a heaving My Dinh Stadium goals in either half from Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband saw the Philippines pull off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition with a 2-0 win over the defending champion.

As Younghusband recalls that was the moment that saw the team morph from pretenders to contenders.

“That was the tournament that brought the Azkals to the attention of the Filipino people.

“It was the tournament where we had success which allowed people to become interested and aware of the team so myself, the team and the Filipino people we all owe a lot to the growth of Filipino football to the Suzuki Cup.”

Like all the storied upsets in world football that match has taken on a mythical status and to such a degree that it has it’s own nickname: the Miracle of Hanoi.

What’s less known though is that one of the stars of the win, Younghusband, was struggling with a stomach bug to such an extent that he couldn’t even join his teammates in the post-match celebrations.

“I actually had food poisoning and had to come off before the end of the match.

“If you look at the goal I scored and watch the replay and the celebration you’ll see I’m actually rubbing my tummy because I’m not feeling well and if you watched the videos after the game while the team is celebrating I’m vomiting in the toilet so that’s my memory of that day.”

Although his night might have ended on a turbulent note personally, for Younghusband this was the occasion where he felt that the team had finally arrived on the continental stage.

“I can’t remember many times, especially during that time in Philippines football where we played in front of sold-out stadiums where we probably had 50 Filipinos in the crowd and there was 41,000 Vietnamese so to walk out at that moment and to see a full stadium, a loud stadium where they’re cheering on their team and they’re the favourites and expected to win – that’s one of the reasons you play football, to be able to play in that kind of atmosphere and hopefully we can do that many more times.”

With the Miracle in Hanoi helping to steer the nation into the semifinals in 2010 it was the start of a period of sustained success where the Philippines repeated the feat in the following two editions.

Now, as Younghusband knows, the aim must be to go one step further.

“The big difference now is the expectations.

“Back in 2010 we didn’t expect much, we knew we had some good players and that we could work hard but with our previous results we didn’t have many expectations.

“This year we’ve brought in a lot of good players, we have a new coach, we’ve got a lot of experience in the competition now – we’ve been there in the semifinals three out of the last four times. 

“Our goal now is to go one step further than the semifinals because we’ll only know we’re doing well when we progress and for us to progress we need to be getting past the semifinal.”