THE Philippine men’s national football team held China to a goalless draw in their Group A second-round FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers match at the Panaad Park and Football Stadium on Tuesday night, breaking a stranglehold in the process at the hands of the visitors.
Dominated by the Chinese squad, including the last two years where they had gone 0-3 in three matches with an average losing margin of four points per contest prior to Tuesday’s match, the Azkals made sure they came out with more fight last time around and was rewarded accordingly, getting a valuable point from the draw to stay in the hunt in their group while stopping China’s hot start in the tournament.
The Azkals relied on a total team effort to hold their own in front of the hometown fans.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was solid in his national team duty return after missing the first two matches of the qualifiers because of injury.
The team was also fluid in its attack on both ends, allowing it to put up a sustained fight against the Chinese in the full 90 minutes and in stoppage time.
“It was a team performance. Every player in the bench was unbelievable throughout the week. We did not get the win but at least we got a point from the draw and have something to build on,” said a satisfied Etheridge, who touted how the team was very focused in its preparation in the lead-up and how every player was committed to getting a positive outcome from the match.
With the draw, China (2-1-0) saw its hot start in the second round halted and dropped to second place in the grouping with seven points from three matches, two points down of group-leading Syria (3-0-0) with nine points.
The Philippines (1-1-1), meanwhile, improved to four points, good for solo third ahead of Maldives (1-0-2) with three points and Guam (0-0-4) at fifth.
The Philippines next plays on Nov. 14 against Maldives in Male while China faces off versus Syria on the same date in Dubai.
In the second round of qualification, the Philippines hopes to finish on top of the grouping, or at a least have one of the best four runner-up records among the eight groups, to advance to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
