The Philippine Azkals found it difficult to pull off a win over Indonesia.
Azkals’ head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson said this after the Philippines was held to a scoreless draw by Indonesia last Sunday at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Despite the draw, the Philippines continued its unbeaten run in the 2018 Asean Football Federation- Suzuki Cup as it earned a seat in the semifinals.
“It’s not easy to play them (Indonesia). I think we did okay, if we won it would’ve been brilliant. Of course, we wanted to win, but Thailand had too many goals, but we haven’t lost one game,” said Eriksson.
The Philippines had a chance to score some 5 minutes in added time, but Manuel Ott’s left-footed shot from outside the box got saved from the top left corner by Indon goalie Andritany Ardhiyasa off an assist by Martin Steuble.
This is the third time that the Azkals have advanced to the semis.
Indonesia, which was playing for nothing but pride and for its home crowd, were already eliminated at that time.
The Azkals had their chances early in the game when Stephan Schrock attempted to side foot the ball home with Andritany Ardhiyasa out of position.
But Schrock put his shot wide in the fourth minute.
The Azkals’ chances to score any further were dashed when Phil Younghusband was forced off the field after getting injured during a collision with an Indonesian player in the 26th minute.
The Philippines will face Vietnam in a semis matchup on Sunday at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod
The Azkals finished Group B with a 2-2-0 win-draw-loss record, behind solo leader Thailand (3-1-0).
The Thais prevailed over Singapore, 3-0, later in the evening at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Thailand.
Indonesia struggled throughout the tournament after head coach Luis Milla failed to agree to a new contract and vacated his role. He was replaced by Bima Sakti.