THE Philippine national men’s football team lost to China, 0-2, as it resumed its second round joint 2022 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup and 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers bid on early Tuesday (Manila time) in the United Arab Emirates.
The Azkals, back on the pitch after a year-and-a-half wait because of the pandemic, stood toe to toe with the Chinese in the opening half for a nil-nil count but could not sustain it the rest of the way en route to falling in the match held in a “bubble” at the Sharjam Stadium.
China used a strong push in the first 20 minutes of the second half to create separation from the Philippine team from which the latter could not recover from.
Forward Wu Lei, who plays in La Liga, put his team on the board in the 56th minute off a penalty kick after being brought down by Azkals goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann. Referee Kim Hee-gon pointed to the spot and the Espanyol player made sure the ball found the bottom of the net.
The Chinese team continued to put pressure on the Azkals and were rewarded in the 65th minute when midfielder Wu Xinghan slipped a shot to the far post off a pass from Tang Miao to make it a 2-0 lead.
The Azkals tried to claw their way back after but with little success.
The victory solidified China’s hold of second spot in Group A of the joint qualifiers with 13 points from a record of 4-1-2, still in the mix for the next round of the World Cup qualifiers as one of the best runners-up.
Syria is solidly on top of the grouping with 21 points from an unblemished card of 7-0-0.
The loss, meanwhile, left the World Cup push of the third-running Azkals (2-1-3, seven points) practically shut but they remain in the race for the next round of the Asian Cup qualifying.
Running fourth in Group A is Maldives (2-0-4, six points), followed by Guam (0-0-7).
The Azkals return to action on June 11 against Guam at 10 p.m. before closing their second-round bid on June 15 versus Maldives at 10 p.m.
All the Azkals matches in the qualifiers can be seen on One Sports and One Sports+. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo