Wondrous win in Surakarta

MANILA, Philippines — Shrugging off three deflating draws, the Philippines delivered the victory that counted the most in the final push for the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup semifinals.

The weary but strong-willed Filipinos carried out their must-win mission against Indonesia in Surakarta with fervor, eking out a gutsy 1-0 verdict Saturday before a stunned 17,390-strong crowd at Manahan Stadium.

Bjorn Kristensen’s penalty conversion in the 63rd minute against the 10-man Garuda proved enough to bag the full three points – and the semis-clincher – for the Pinoy booters after bungling previous winning opportunities in 1-1 ties  against Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

The successful trip in Indonesia, coupled by Vietnam’s 5-0 rout of Myanmar in Viet Tri City, sent the Philippines back to the semifinals after missing the KO stage in the last two editions in 2020 and 2022.

Coach Albert Capellas’ troops advanced as Group B runner-up with six points and set a date with defending champion Thailand, the Group A topnotcher with 12 points, in the semis to be played over two legs. The Filipinos host the opener on Dec. 27 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium before flying to the War Elephants’ turf in Bangkok three days later for the return match.

“ We should (have) arrived here (Indonesia) already qualified but we couldn’t score goals with the chances that we made (in the first three matches),” said Capellas.

“That meant we had to come here to Indonesia to play in a very difficult stadium against a difficult team who had five days’ rest while we played four games with only two days’ rest every game. Players were really tired but they worked so hard to make this qualification happen.”

Freddy Gonzalez, the Philippine Football Federation’s director of national teams, lauded the side for its perseverance.

“We did it the hard way. We should have been 12 points at the end of this stage and first place in this group but we were just really unlucky in the first three games,” he said.

“Everyone is gassed from playing four games in nine days but these guys really dug deep and pulled off an amazing victory that brought us back to the semifinals.”

Now comes the hard part – taking down a Thailand squad that went undefeated in Group A with a whopping goal difference of +14.

“Everybody’s motivated to continue to go against Thailand. That’s really our focus right now – try to beat Thailand and get to the finals,” said Gonzalez.