Azkals teeter on the brink

MANILA, Philippines - What was supposed to be a day of rebound became another moment of frustration for the Philippine under-23 football team as it yielded a 1-2 setback to Timor Leste last night at the Lebak Bulus Stadium, its semifinal bid in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in serious jeopardy.

Hoping to bounce back against a supposedly lighter opponent four days after their heartbreaking 1-3 loss to Vietnam, the U-23 Azkals found themselves on the losing end for the second straight game, thrust into a “must-win-big” situation from hereon in to keep their slim medal aspirations alive.

The Filipinos will try to get a win against Laos on Friday in the same venue, then against Myanmar on Nov. 13, and against Brunei on Nov. 15, all the while keeping their fingers crossed that the Group B leaders won’t pile up the points from their end.

The Timorese, who opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Brunei, enjoyed the provisional lead in the group with six points on two victories. Behind them were Vietnam and Myanmar with four points on one win and one draw at presstime.

Parading several tall, big, fast, and attack-minded players of Portuguese descent with experience in Australia and Portugal, Timor Leste pulled off the win despite the Filipinos getting a bigger chunk of possession (55 percent against 45 percent).

The Timorese had nine shots on goal against Phl’s four, one of which was completed and served as the dagger to the heart of the U-23 Azkals.

Diogo Rangel eluded Phl defender Patrick Hinrichsen then rolled the ball past Filipino custodian Roland Muller three minutes into the second half to break a 1-1 standoff, cranking up the pressure on the U-23 Azkals to try in vain to pile in the goals.

The Timorese got into the scoreboard 17 minutes into play when Murilo Robeiro de Almeida punished the Azkals for their poor marking off a counter attack. Almeida slotted it in off a delivery from Azwan Muhamad Saleh, giving Timor the lead and making his third goal in two games.

However, Phl’s Washington-based OJ Porteria, working off a pass from Jeff Christiaens, flicked it in 20 minutes later to knot the count, celebrating the goal with a dance routine with teammate Jason de Jong.

But the celebration was shortlived for the Filipinos.

Worse, the U23 Azkals will likely miss Fil-Spanish defender Carli de Murga in their next game as sanction for getting a yellow card in last night’s physical match, his second in the tournament.