Azkals-Malaysians: 0-0 draw

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals came out firing but shot blanks and settled for a scoreless draw with Malaysia last night at Rizal Memorial Stadium. 

Determined to put up a show in their first appearance since bombing out of the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup last November, the Azkals pressed their bid early but just couldn’t find the mark as they wound up in yet another stalemate with Harimau Malaysia – their fifth in as many international friendlies since 2012.

It wasn’t the best possible result the full-bodied Azkals would have wanted in the lead-up to next week’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers against Nepal but coach Thomas Dooley will take the positives from this.

“We wanted to win the game – after 26 years, we felt it’s about time we beat Malaysia but we fell short,” said Dooley.