THE Philippines handily beat Nepal, 4-1, on Tuesday night to jumpstart its campaign in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup UAE 2019.
Azkals captain Phil Younghusband drilled in two goals to atone himself from a forgettable Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup stint last season.
A sizeable crowd of close to 2,000 trooped to the Rizal Memorial Stadium to cheer the Azkals, who cruised past a Nepalese side that went down to 10 men in the Group F match.
“This was very important. It’s the first game in the group and we got what we wanted—a good start,” Younghusband, who scored his 45th goal in his 87th match for the national team since 2006, said.
“Our goal is to get it to the Asian Cup and this is one step towards there,” he added.
The Azkals were aggressive from the get go and created multiple chances at the goal. Younghusband missed a penalty kick in the 14th minute but drew the first blood with another freebie in the 21st minute.
Younghusband doubled the lead two minutes later on another brace from Mike Ott’s cross.
Iain Ramsay made it 3-0 in the 28th minute but the Nepalese found some hope of comeback before the first half ended when Bishal Rai converted a brace in the 46th minute.
The Azkals, however, did doused water on that Nepalese hope by playing even more aggressively in the second half. Javier Patiño nailed the fourth and last goal in the 73rd minute.
Azkals Head Coach Thomas Dooley was glad to see his wards score goals and clinch a win.
“Obviously, I’m very happy that we got three points, that’s what we wanted,” Dooley said. “I’m happy that we played the ball nicely, we had great combinations. You can see that after the goal we scored, we created more chances.”
The Nepal match was the first of the national team’s grueling two-round home-and-away schedule. Only two teams from each group will advance to the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Azkals will fly to Tajikistan for their away match in May. But before that, Dooley said he has plans for an away friendly with world No. 89 China.
Image credits: Alysa Salen