MANILA – The Philippine men’s football team conceded a late goal to Vietnam to settle for a 1-1 draw in the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup on Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Vietnam’s Ngoc Tan Doan denied the Team Philippines its first victory in the group stage of the competition after knocking down a short header in the 96th minute to knot the score at 1-1.
With the outcome, Team Philippines is currently in fourth place in Group B with three points on three draws, behind Vietnam (seven points), Indonesia (four points) and Myanmar (four points).
“‘I am very sad for players, we deserved more from the last three games because I know how hard they have worked,” Team Philippines head coach Albert Capellas said in a post-game interview.
Team Philippines seemed headed to their first victory in the tournament after taking a 1-0 advantage in the 68th minute courtesy of a left-footed conversion from Jarvey Gayoso.
Philippines’ goal keeper Patrick Deyto also did a great job in denying Vietnam’s first three shots at the goal before conceding a header to Ngoc after he mishandled the save.
A victory by the Filipino booters over Vietnam could have been a first for the national men’s football team since 2012 Suzuki Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, where they got a 1-0 result.
It would have also evoked memories of the ‘Miracle in Hanoi’ on December 5, 2010 when the Philippines won Vietnam, 2-0, sparking a renaissance of football in the country.
Team Philippines, however, still has a slim chance of making it to the next round if they pull off an upset against favored Indonesia on Saturday night in Jakarta.
“Now we have to go to Indonesia directly without sleeping,” Capellas said. “They have an advantage on the rest because they will be five days off by the 21st.”/PN
