BACOLOD City – Ilonggo Jovin Bedic came up with a timely conversion as the Philippine Azkals forced the reigning titlist, Thailand War Elephants, to a 1-1 draw in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup last night at the Panaad Park and Stadium here.
Two minutes after being sent in the match for Stephen Palla, the Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo native Bedic made an immediate impact for the national men’s football team with a game-tying goal.
“I think we played very well, all 90 minutes. The 1-1 is okay but we could’ve won the game. We have more attempts on the goal,” said Azkals head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in a post-match interview.
The Azkals were dominant early in the match with multiple close attempts from Patrick Strauss, Patrick Reichelt, Daisuke Sato, and Manny Ott but they were bothered by the defense.
The Azkals had another golden opportunity to score at the onset of the second half but Phil Younghusband’s try was saved by War Elephants’ goal keeper.
Thailand got the lead with a breakthrough hit from Supachai Jaided at the 66th minute.
The Azkals tried even harder to score an equalizer but their tries were wide before finally entering the scoring column at the 80th minute with Bedic’s shot from outside of the box that hit the post before curling into the net.
Both teams tried to go for the go-ahead conversions but could find a decent attempt. The Thais had a final opportunity to score via penalty kick but the shot went straight to the hands of Azkals keeper Michael Falkesgaard.
With the outcome, the Azkals and War Elephants remained at deadlock on top of the standings with seven points each heading into the final day of group matches this weekend.
The Azkals will need a win or a deadlock against the already-eliminated Indonesia on Sunday to advance to the semifinals round.
The same goes for Thailand, which is in a must-win situation against Singapore to enter the Final Four./PN
