THE Philippine Azkals national men’s football team, ranked no. 134th in their world, came away with a 2-1 upset over Kyrgyzstan in their friendly encounter at the Spartak Stadium on Tuesday night in Bishkek.
Playing without striker Javier Patino and midfielder Stephan Schrock, the Filipinos struggled in the opening minutes, but they still managed to hold their ground on Kyrgyzstan, which is ranked higher at no. 105 in the FIFA rankings.
The team was also missing two likely starters in Patrick Reichelt and Simone Rota because of injury.
Goal keeper Neil Etheridge fended off repeated attacks and made three saves before the Azkals finally struck in the 44th minute.
Kevin Ingreso broke past the defensive line to hand the Azkals a 1-0 edge at the end of the first half.
Ingreso scored when he struck the ball, a left footed kick which sent the sphere sailing into the far top corner.
The Azkals struck again in the 53rd, when Misagh Bahadoran headed in an assist from Junior Muñoz, who played for the first time and came in at the half for Ingreso.
Then, Kyrgyzstani-German Vitalij Lux fired a shot that went past Etheridge in the 60th.
The Azkals will have two games on Oct. 6 and 10 when they host visiting team Bahrain and North Korea, respectively, at the Philippine Sports Arena in Bulacan.