The Philippine men’s football team, popularly known as the Azkals, forced the Thailand War Elephants to a scoreless draw in the first leg of their Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup semifinal tie at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Azkals, who have yet to win against the Thais since 1971, used their homecourt edge to the fullest, dominating most part of the game, but just couldn’t score the winning goal as they lacked the sharpness to break down the Thais’ defense.
The Filipinos will meet anew their southeast Asian rivals in the second leg in Bangkok this Wednesday.
With the away goals rule enforced, a scoring draw in the second leg will be enough for the Azkals to advance to the finals for the first time.
“I think we showed today we can compete with teams like Thailand,” the Azkals’ Phil Younghusband told Inquirer.net. “It’s a big advantage we did not concede a goal today.”
The Azkals came up with an aggressive start as they tried to match the War Elephants’ fast-paced game.
Jerry Lucena’s pass to Paul Maulders almost led to a goal but the Thais defended their goal well.
Manny Ott started a transition play in the next three minutes and fed Younghusband with a pass. The Filipino-British fired from outside the box but this was caught by Thai keeper Kawin Thamsatchanan.
In the 32nd minute, Thailand almost scored when Adisak Kraisorn received a cross. Fortunately for the Philippines, his shot sailed over the crossbar.
The Azkals’ best chance in the half came in the 42nd when Younghusband came close to scoring a goal with a free kick. The ball was just inches away from the goal when it was deflected again by Thailand’s goal keeper.
The Thais threatened in the 51st minute as Peerapat Notchaiya fired a close one that went wide to the left.
The Filipinos couldn’t even capitalize when the Thais were reduced to 10 men after Kraisorn was given the red card for elbowing Amani Aguinaldo in the face.