MANILA – The Philippines men’s U-23 football team suffered a 3-0 defeat to South Korea at the start of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers on Monday night at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
The Under-23 Azkals was able to keep in step with the South Koreans in the opening half before faltering in the second frame to drop to the cellar of Group H.
The South Koreans had a dominant display in the first half with Goo Boncheol nearly giving his team the lead but was halted by the defense of Azkals keeper Quincy Kammeraad.
Cho Sang-jun also had his opportunities for the South Koreans after two shots that went off target while Choi Geonju had a conversion that was ruled as offside.
Following missed opportunities in the opening half, the South Koreans went to work in the second half with Lee Kyu-hyuk drilling a header past Azkals goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad.
Ko Jaehyeon then doubled the lead for the South Koreans with a close range connection at the 72nd minute after being left unmarked inside the Filipinos’ box.
Park Jeong-in, who was subbed in late in the match, capped off South Korea’s second half avalanche. He headed the ball into the back of the net at the 89th minute.
The U-23 Azkals hopes to bounce back in the qualifiers when it faces host Singapore at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
The U-23 Azkals need to finish on top of Group H to formally qualify to the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup tentatively slated from June 1 to 19, 2022 in Uzbekistan.
A second-place finish in the group might be good enough provided that the national men’s football team finishes in the top four of the runner-up standings./PN
