PH Azkals overwhelm Nepal for 1st win under Dooley

MANILA, Philippines — Held to without a goal in its past two friendlies, the Philippines finally found the back of the net in a 3-0 shutout of Nepal Friday (Saturday in Manila) at the Grand Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Azkals. FILE PHOTO

The win marked the Azkals’ first under new head coach Thomas Dooley and it was quite a victory.

English-born Filipino Curt Dizon, making his debut, opened up the scoring for the Philippines in the 14th minute before Fil-Swiss midfielder Martin Steuble doubled the lead in the 32nd minute. Ruben Doctora capped the Azkals’ sterling effort with a late goal.

The Philippines, which takes on Qatari club Al-Ahli on Monday as part of its preparations for the AFC Challenge Cup next month, went a goal shy of repeating its 4-0 triumph over Nepal in 2011 but it was as dominating.

Before securing their first win under the American mentor, the Azkals settled for a scoreless draw against Malaysia and suffered a 0-1 loss to  European team Azerbaijan in Dubai last March.