MANILA – The national men’s football team ended its campaign in the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup with a tough 2-1 defeat to Timnas Indonesia on Monday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
With the close defeat, the Azkals finished their Group A assignment with just three points, on one victory and three defeats, while also missing the playoffs round for the second straight edition.
The Azkals showed aggressiveness early with Hikaru Minegishi, Stephan Schrock, Kenshiro Daniels and Audie Menzi having shots at the goal but was blocked by Indonesian keeper Nadeo Argawinata.
The Indonesians finally made their presence felt at the 21st minute as veteran striker Dendy Sulistyawan knocked in a header from a corner throw-in to give his team a 1-0 advantage.
The Azkals then got a break with Argawinata exiting the match due to injury and was replaced by Syahrul Trisna Fadillah but still could not capitalize as Amani Aguinaldo’s header was wayward.
The Indonesians doubled the advantage just before the halftime break as Marselino Ferdinan converted from inside the box against the defense of Azkals keeper Anthony Pinthus.
Both teams slowed down with their action to start the second half until the Azkals made some noise with newcomers Sebastian Rasmussen and Sandro Reyes attempting from close range.
Rasmussen finally put the national men’s football team on the board at the 83rd minute as he connected on a header from a cross by Schrock to trim Indonesia’s advantage to 2-1.
The Indonesians became aggressive anew with two straight attempts but was blocked by the defense of Pinthus. Rasmussen went for the equalizer but was also foiled by the Indonesians.
The defeat also marked the final game of Filipino-German captain Schrock for the national team. He ended his national team career with 57 international appearances, six goals and 10 assists./PN
