Young Azkals suffer first loss in 1-2 decision to Myanmar in SEA Games
Credit to Author: JEREMIAH SEVILLA| Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2019 11:03:29 +0000
THE Philippine Azkals Under-22 national team suffered its first defeat after surrendering a 1-2 decision to Myanmar in the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) on Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.
Justin Baas carried the young Azkals out of an early deficit with an equalizer before halftime but Win Naing Tung’s late strike spelled the difference for the visiting Asian Lions in the tightly-contested match.
Aung Kang Man capitalized on the flat-footed Azkals backline to give Myanmar the opening lead in the 16th minute.
Baas was able to equalize in the 45th minute when midfielder Yrick Gallantes kept the ball alive and sent a well-placed cross that was chested by previous game’s hero Dennis Chung to the Fil-Dutch defender, who rifled it past the Burmese goalkeeper.
The Azkals’ defense was punished anew as Win received a lead pass on the counter-attack then eluded veteran defender Amani Aguinaldo to net the match-winner in the 79th.
With the slim defeat in front of 3,000 fans, the PH XI fell to the fourth spot in the five-nation Group A with a point off a 1-1 draw with Cambodia last Monday and a lower goal difference against Malaysia.
Myanmar jumped to the top with four points on a win and a draw with Malaysia.
The top two teams at the end of the group stage will advance to the semifinals on December 7 before the medal matches on December 10.
The Philippines will next tackle previous edition’s silver winner Malaysia on November 29 at 8 p.m. at the same venue.