The Philippines won’t be going to the Suzuki Cup in December – booted out by host Cambodia and Laos, which came up winners on the final day of the qualifying tournament in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh Saturday.
The Filipinos, who returned to Manila Friday, finished ahead of the other squads Thursday and had to anxiously wait two more days back home to know whether they qualified for the Suzuki Cup main event, the Asean Men’s Football Championship, in December.
But the Azkals had no such luck after the Cambodians and Laotians came through with close wins over respective rivals – Brunei and Timor Leste – by similar 2-1 scores.
After losing to the hosts, 2-3, in their first match, the Laotian booters closed out the five-nation event by picking up their third straight win at the Timorese’s expense to top the qualifiers with nine points.
And while Cambodia and the Philippines both had similar seven points each, the jubilant hosts were rewarded with the other slot up for grabs by having more goals than the RP squad.
Laos will be bracketed in Group B with Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia while Cambodia will be in Group A with Indonesia, Myanmar and Singapore.