Azkals suffers loss vs Vietnam as first defeat under new head coach

“FT: Philippines 1-2 Vietnam [Patrick Reichelt 45+2′ | Nguyen Anh Duc 12′, Phan Van Duc 48′]
2nd leg of the Semifinals will be on Dec 6 in My Dinh National Stadium Hanoi, Vietnam.” (Photo: Azkals (Philippine National Football Team)/Facebook)

The visiting team scored their two goals with forwards Nguyen Anh Duc and Phan Van Duc – one during the first half, the other during the second. Shortly before halftime, Filipino Patrick Reichelt answered back Nguyen Anh Duc’s goal with a cross from the left pass from Phil Younghusband. Unfortunately, Reichelt’s second attempt to equalize the score at the 82nd minute sent the ball too high from the net. In the words of Reichelt about his team’s performance, “ It was a disappointment. This is our third time in the Suzuki Cup semifinal, I don’t want to go out of the semifinal [again],” adding, “I think we prepared well [but] attitude was missing.”

This is the first time that Team Philippines has suffered a defeat under their new head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former Swedish football manager for Team Manchester who signed a five-month contract with the Azkals. For their four previous games, the Azkals experienced two wins and two draws. Coach Sven-Goran admitted that “Vietnam is a very good team, the best team [they] have played against in the Suzuki Cup,” stating, “If you want to beat a team like this you cannot concede two goals.”

The next time the Azkals will be able to redeem themselves is on the second game of the semifinal on Thursday, December 6, where it’ll be do-or-die against the recent Vietnamese opponents on their own My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi. Eriksson is staying positive and said he “believes [his] team has a chance” of entering the finals, concluding, “ I’ve seen bigger things happen. We are not out of this. Definitely not.”