By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Philippine men’s national football team plays in its final scheduled group play match today against Kyrgyz Republic wherein it looks to book a breakthrough win in its AFC Asian Cup debut and pad its cause for a possible spot in the knockout stage of the continental football spectacle.
Currently outside looking in with two defeats and zero points in Group C, the Philippine Azkals battle Kyrgyzstan (0-0-2) at 9:30 p.m. (Manila time) at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where a win could possible merit for them a spot in the next round as one of the four best third-placed teams among the six groupings.
The Azkals saw their campaign take a big hit after losing to China People’s Republic, 3-0, on Jan. 11.
While they gallantly fought for much of the opening half, the Azkals just could not stop things from cascading when the Chinese started tearing down the Philippine defensive wall.
Forward Wu Lei got China on the score board for a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute before completing his brace in the 66th minute.
For good measure, China added a third goal in the 80th minute care of substitute Yu Dabao to complete the win that thrust their team to the next round of the competition.
The defeat was the second for the Azkals after their 1-0 loss to Korea Republic in their opener on Jan. 7.
While needing to go through the eye of the needle just to make it through the next round, the Azkals are undeterred and determined to still deliver on their promise of not just being participants in their first Asian Cup but also to go through.
“Overall, in the two games we have played, we have shown that we can play football. We are not going home yet, and we will see what happens in the last group stage game,” Azkals coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was quoted as saying by the official AFC Asian Cup Website after their game against China.
The coach’s sentiment was shared by veteran Azkals Phil Younghusband, who underscored that there is still much to play for against Krygyzstan in their final group play match just as he said that it would not be easy and that they have to play at their best.
“We have to win the next game. We have played [Kyrgyzstan] twice in the last few years. Played them away, played them home and we got two wins. But this is a different stage, they may have different players, we have different players. It’s a different arena,” said Mr. Younghusband.
“It will be a difficult game and they have some players we’ll need to watch out for, but we’ll now have time to prepare for all those things ahead of the match,” he added.
KYRGYZSTAN
Looking to bag its first win as well is Kyrgyzstan, which like the Philippines is in its first AFC Asian Cup appearance.
Kyrgyzstan, too, is earning its keep in the tournament, churning out spirited performances in “limiting” damage in their defeats.
It gave China a scare in their opener before bowing down, 2-1. The team then gave its all in losing, 1-0, to Korea.
“My team have played very well and the players on the pitch did everything possible and it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get any points. But we are working with optimism going to the next game and, with three points, we can still get to the next round,” Kyrgyz Republic coach Alexander Krestinin was quoted as saying by the AFC.
Adding, “I’m not happy with the result. We have no points after these two games but the spirit of the team is good and we’ve done well in our first appearance in this tournament. We will analyze every game and we prepare for every game separately.”
The Philippines-Kyrgyzstan match will be shown live over FOX Sports 2.

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