The Philippine national men’s football showed something different when they played to another draw, a 1-all stalemate with outright semifinalist and two-time champion Vietnam on Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Filipinos showed that it was a fighting team when action ended in a late night Group B fixture of the 2024 ASEAN Football Federation-Mitsubishi Electric Cup (AMEC).
“Today was a different game. Today was a 50-50 game. It was more of a battle,” said national team coach Albert Capellas as the Philippines came up with its best result against Vietnam in more than a decade.
It marked the first time that the Philippines has scored against Vietnam since the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, where the Filipino side won, 1-0, on Chieffy Caligdong’s late goal.
Since then, the Filipino booters have conceded six games against the ASEAN powerhouse until Wednesday’s draw.
“We have to keep longer ball possession because when we put five passes between lines, we shouldn’t have lost, if we could do that on the last five-seven minutes, we shouldn’t have lost,” said Capellas.
Jarvey Gayoso, the son of retired Ginebra San Miguel cage star Jayvee Gayoso, cut short his honeymoon after getting married last weekend to join the national team.
And it paid off. After receiving a loss pass from Amani Aguinaldo, Javier Mariona headed the ball to Gayoso, who struck with a left-footed volley in the 68th minute to put the Filipinos in the lead.
The Philippines could have doubled the score, but Bjorn Kristensen, was called an offensive foul during his attack, after colliding with Viet Anh Bui Hoang.
“We shouldn’t have lost. But we are tired, the team was so tired, but they gave whatever they can,” added Capellas.
Ngoc Tan Doan swung things around for Vietnam in the 90+7 mark, when he found an opening by crouching low for a header in the right corner.
Earlier in the day, Myanmar claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory over Laos in Yangon, thanks to a late brace from Win Naing Tun and an opening goal from Lwin Moe Aung.
Myanmar’s win boosted its tally to four points, keeping its knockout hopes alive. In contrast, Laos, with only two points, was eliminated from contention.
Both the Philippines and Vietnam will return to action this Saturday at 9 p.m.
The Philippines faces Indonesia in Surakarta, while Vietnam hosts Myanmar in Viet Tri.
For the Philippines to advance to the next round for the first time since 2018, they must defeat Indonesia and hope Vietnam beats Myanmar.
Defending champion Thailand is in the semifinals after beating Singapore, 4-2, in an exhilarating Group A tie at the National Stadium.
