MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines kissed its bid for the Rio Olympics football competitions goodbye after suffering its second straight defeat in Group G of the AFC U-23 Championship 2016 qualifiers Sunday night at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
The Phl U-22 fell to powerhouse host Thailand, 1-5, and with a game to spare in the group play, bowed out of the final tournament slated in Qatar, where tickets to the Rio Games will be at stake.
Only the winners of the 10 groups and the five best second-placers along with the host Qataris will proceed to the 16-team finals.
The Filipinos, who opened the qualifiers with a 0-4 setback to Thailand Friday, can get a consolation result in their last assignment today against fellow also-ran Cambodia. The Cambodians also dropped their first two outings, 1-2 to the Thais and 1-4 to the North Koreans.
Facing a home team determined to score a big win to boost its chances to advance, the Pinoy U-22 booters managed to stay within striking distance and held the Thais to only one goal, courtesy of Kasidech Wattayawong, after 45 minutes of play.?
But the Thailand machine got going in the second half and struck with four goals via Pakorn Panrmpak’s (47’ penalty), Chenrop Samphaodi (56’), Chaowat Veerachat (62’) and Inpinit Pinyo (67’).
National U standout Paolo Salenga scored a consolation goal for the Filipinos when he delivered a powerful header off Kennedy Uzoka’s cross one minute before time.