Phl Azkals turn back Pakistan, retain Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Energized by the magnificent performance of Stephan Schrock, the Philippine Azkals hacked out a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Pakistan to retain the crown in the second Philippine Football Peace Cup last night at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.

The versatile Schrock created a lot of scoring opportunities for the Azkals, helping them claw back from an early 0-1 deficit and getting the much-needed two-goal margin at endgame to emerge on top in the three-nation meet.

The Azkals, who gained another crack at the crown after the Pakistanis foiled the Chinese-Taipei side, 1-0, Sunday, thus finished the single round-robin tournament with three points and a goal difference of +1, nosing out the Taiwanese (three points, zero GD) and Pakistan (three points, -1 GD) on tiebreak.

Schrock did practically everything on the field, gaining possession, setting up teammates, and when needed, scoring the title-clinching goal himself.

He launched a nifty pass to Patrick Reichelt that his fellow Fil-German quickly converted as the Pinoy booters drew level at one in the 34th minute.

With Schrock on the lead, the Azkals came out of the halftime break charging and unleashed a big offensive in their make-or-break bid.

They were rewarded in the 78th minute when Chris Greatwich knocked it home after a deflection on Reichelt’s header. Some 10 minutes later, it was Reichelt’s turn to feed Schrock and the Bundesliga stalwart gamely booted it in.

Schrock took off his shirt in celebration as the big crowd celebrated Phl XI’s impending title conquest that somehow gave the football-loving region something to cheer after the morning’s powerful earthquake that shook off the Visayas, particularly Bohol and Cebu.