INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? The Philippines got off to a positive start in the AFC Challenge Cup Group B Qualifying Tournament as it nipped Bhutan, 1-0, Tuesday night at the National Stadium in Male, Maldives.

Chad Gould?s header off an inch-perfect cross from James Younghusband in the 13th minute proved to be the marginal goal in the match that also saw young Filipino-Dutch player Jason de Jong also coming close to doubling the advantage late in the first half.

?Winning our first match is very important for us,? RP coach Aris Caslib told the Philippine Daily Inquirer via email. ?All the teams are very strong. Bhutan has improved tremendously since the last time we played them.?

Bhutan did put the Filipinos on the backfoot early in the second half, but couldn?t make the pressure pay off as defender Passang Tshering and Chencho all blew scoring chances.

The Filipinos are hard-pressed to sweep their remaining games beginning with the Maldives on Thursday and Turkmenistan on Saturday to clinch a place in the 2010 Challenge Cup main tournament.

?We have to improve,? Caslib said. ?Concentration is very important in our next match versus Maldives. We must perform very well inside the attacking third to be successful.?

Turkmenistan, the team tipped to top the group, also took maximum points on opening-day as it whipped Maldives, 3-1. The Turks, who play Bhutan on Thursday, lead the tournament on goal difference.