The Philippine Azkals suffered their first lost in the Philippine Peace Cup 2013 held in Bacolod City on Thursday night against the visiting Chinese Taipei national squad with the final score at 2-1.
Azkals in Training at Talisay (Photo: acebright Instagram)
The Azkals was surprised with the offensive prowess of the Chinese Taipei as the national team suffered a huge blow in its title defense bid of the Peace Cup which they dominated last year.
The 141st ranked team Philippines was defeated by 175th ranked Chinese Taipei team despite having several goal chances at goal in the early match courtesy of Angel Guirado and Stephan Schrock.
Chinese Taipei player Li Mao capitalized on the Azkals miscue at the 14th minute and drove away for a counterattack. The Azkals were expecting an offside call, they failed to chase the opposing player which allow Li to bury a high-looping shot that the Fulham keeper Etheridge couldn’t prevent.
The Philippine Azkals made a lone goal in the game through the effort of James Younghusband who scored a header off a Patrick Reichelt dish at the 45th minute to tie the match 1-1 before halftime.
The Chinese Taipei scored another goal at around 65th minute to grab a 2-1 lead in front of thousands of Filipino football lovers in Bacolod City. The Azkals tried their best to equalized the game but they failed to score until the final whistle ending their first game in the Philippine Peace Cup in defeat.
The Philippine Azkals is now hoping that the Chinese Taipei loses to Pakistan on Sunday before notching a victory against the South Asian squad on Tuesday to get a shot at the tournament crown, they once held against Chinese Taipei last year.
