Underdog Azkals hold tough Thailand to nil-nil draw in first leg of Suzuki Cup semifinals AFP The Philippine national men’s football team battled a heavily favored Thailand to a scoreless draw in the first leg of their ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup semifinals showdown Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. The underdog Azkals, led by star striker Phil Younghusband, had in a nip-and-tuck affair for the entire match against the Thais, who had gone to the match undefeated. But both teams couldn’t score a goal as the series shifts to the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on Wednesday for the second leg. The Azkals and the Thais engaged in a tight first half battle, with the Filipinos finding opportunities on the attack over the tough Thai defense but couldn’t just finish. Younghusband had his best chance at the 42nd minute when a Thai player committed a handball violation which earned the Azkals a free kick outside the box. The star striker then launched a blazing shot which was deflected by the Thai goalkeeper as the first half ended with a nil-nil score. Younghusband once again almost scored the first goal of the match after breaking away from the pack at the 54th minute. But he lost his balance as he entered the box. The Thais then quickly ran back on a dangerous counterattack and produced a shot which barely missed the goal. A red card was slapped at the 69th minute to Thailand’s Adisak Kraisorn when he hit Azkals defender Amani Aguinaldo on the face. That trimmed the Thais to just 10 men, a huge break for the Azkals to take advantage of in a tightly contested match. Younghusband went on to have two more goal chances, but he couldn’t just convert. Misagh Bahadoran and Martin Steuble also had their own chances which also failed to hit the back of the net. The nil-nil result is a favorable one for the Azkals as they didn’t surrender to Thailand an away goal which has more value should the aggregate score end in a tie after the second leg. However, it also meant that the Azkals’s losing streak continues against Thailand which they haven’t beaten for the past 42 years.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:59:46 +0000
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