Azkals bow out of World Cup qualifiers after shock loss to Yemen

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine Azkals blew their chances and paid dearly for it suffering a 0-1 loss to a Yemen side that has nothing to lose on Thursday night in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in front of a disappointed 6,478 fans at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.  

As the Azkals just could not cash in on several chances, Yemen, who was the first to be eliminated from the qualifiers with no win to boot entering this match, struck when the opportunity presented itself  to score its first win in the qualifiers.

Yemen's substitute midfielder Ahmed Al-Sarori struck in the 82nd minute to the horror of the Azkals and the partisan crowd, who were hoping to duplicate the 2-0 victory in the first round.  

The loss, their third in their last four matches, was a telling blow to the Azkals who got stuck at third spot with seven points (2-1-3 win-draw-loss) behind North Korea (13 points) and Uzbekistan (9 points), who are playing as of posting time.

Only the top teams from each group will automatically advance to the next round while the best four second placers will also get a ticket. 

The Azkals played sluggishly in the first half in the match where they missed the services of Phil Younghusband, who served his one-game suspension due to two yellow cards) and goal keeper Neil Etheridge, who was not physically fit to play.

In the second half, the Azkals blew three golden opportunities to score but Yemen's goalie Mohammed Ebrahim Ali Ayash stood his ground.

"Obviously, we were not happy with the result. We were talking before the game that we cannot lose the game, we have to win the game," Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said.

"It was difficult in the first half.  We did not play the way we wanted. We did not press," the American coach rued. 

The Azkals will close out their campaign against their group's top two teams next year with Uzbekistan on March 24 on the road and North Korea at home five days later.