Azkals need 2-goal victory over solid Pakistan tonight

BACOLOD—Defending champion Philippines, getting an unexpected lifeline courtesy of Pakistan last Sunday, hopes to get the task done against the same Pakistani squad tonight and keep the Philippine Peace Cup at Panaad Stadium.

With Pakistan stunning Chinese-Taipei, 1-0, last Sunday, the Azkals stayed alive despite dropping their opener to the Taiwanese last Friday, 1-2.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. with the Azkals needing to win by at least a couple of goals to capture the crown.

A draw will be enough for Pakistan to claim the Peace Cup, but a 1-0 win by the Azkals will give Chinese-Taipei the crown under the tiebreak rules as the Taiwanese will finish with more goals than the Pakistanis.

The Azkals are looking to improve their play after wasting clear chances and getting undone by a couple of goals on the counterattack last Friday against Chinese-Taipei.

But the squad could miss several key players after they fell ill due to food poisoning over the weekend.

Among those ruled out by coach Michael Weiss from the game are OJ Portieria, Jason de Jong and Mark Hartmann, while Phil Younghusband is again expected to be sidelined by the calf injury he sustained last week.

“I think what’s important is that we play cohesively,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge is hoping for more stability from his backline, saying the Azkals should not let the opportunity of winning the Peace Cup slip away.

The Pakistanis grabbed the lead in the tournament after a Zershan Rehman goal in the seventh minute against the Taiwanese.