Pinoy booters fail to stop Thailand at Asean-Hyundai Cup in Capas, Tarlac – BusinessWorld Online
THE Philippine men’s football team found itself in a tight fix in the race for the Asean Championship-Hyundai Cup semifinals after dropping a 0-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday night in Capas, Tarlac.
The Pinoy booters’ failure to stop Waris Choolthong’s winning 84th minute header at the New Clark City Stadium meant they’re stuck with three points on one win and two losses going to the final match of Group B against Malaysia.
And with the Malayan Tigers and Myanmar already with six points each behind the Thais’ nine off three wins, the Philippines would have to beat Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday by five goals to boost their shot for a Final Four seat if it comes to a potential tiebreaker.
At the same time, they pray that the Burmese would lose to the War Elephants to catch the former at six markers.
“We have to understand the situation. Our objective (against Thailand) was to secure at least one point (draw), which would have taken us to seven and left qualification in our hands against Malaysia. The situation is now more difficult,” noted coach Carles Cuadrat.
“During the previous tournament, the Philippines qualified with six points, but that may not be sufficient this time because of goal difference,” added the Spaniard, whose troops tote a goal difference of -1 after two matches while Malaysia is a +3 and Myanmar is at +7. — Olmin Leyba