MANILA – The Philippine U-23 Azkals averted disaster in the AFF U-23 Youth Championship 2022. It forced a 2-2 draw with Timor-Leste on Monday night at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Ivan Ouano scored game-tying goals each in the opening and second half as the national U-23 men’s football team salvaged a point to stay at the middle in the Pool A.
The U-23 Azkals started the match on a wrong foot. It committed a foul that led to a penalty conversion by Timor-Leste’s Mouzinho Barreto de Lima at the sixth minute for a 1-0 edge.
The U-23 Azkals, however, found a way to equalize the score just before the halftime break. Ouano slotted the ball past Timor-Leste goalie Junildo Pereira at the 44th minute.
Timor-Leste managed to regain a 2-1 advantage in the second half. Jaimito Soares performed a fine finish to score past U-23 Azkals goalie Quinci Kammeraad.
Ouano came to the rescue anew for the U-23 Azkals. He was in the right place at the right time to put the ball at the back of the net at the 62nd minute for a 2-2 count.
Both teams still had their chances to snatch the lead but the tight defense of Azkals’ Kammeraad and Timor-Leste’s Pereira allowed the stalemate to stand still.
“We obviously had problems in the Philippines with the quarantine and the flights into the Philippines. We couldn’t get our foreign-based players back in the Philippines,” said Azkals mentor Stewart Hall.
“It’s not ideal so let’s get as many pluses, positives out of it that we can and expose players from tournament football internationally,” he added.
The U-23 Azkals will vie for its first win of the tournament on Thursday afternoon against host nation Cambodia at the Prince Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia./PN
