Azkals beat Palestine, bag third to cap record run

KATHMANDU—It wasn’t a final, but the Philippine Azkals played like it was one anyway. And with that, they chalked up one more achievement in a tournament to remember.

Already assured of their best finish in the AFC Challenge Cup, the Azkals left an imprint—and perhaps a warning to teams in future tournaments—with a scrambling 4-3 victory against a resilient Palestine side Monday to claim third place at the Dashrath Stadium.

Phil Younghusband scored twice to finish with a tournament-leading six goals, while brothers Angel and Juani Guirado also found the back of the net as the Azkals kept their promise of unleashing the full brunt of their attack on the Palestinians.

“We made history again and it’s an amazing feeling,” said Younghusband, the linchpin of the Azkals attack that produced one of their highest goal totals for a tournament with nine.

“It’s one of the strongest tournaments we entered and it was more special that the team just clicked.”

The final whistle was initially met with relief—Palestine made it 3-4 in the 78th minute—and the Azkals linked hands and raised them in front of a small crowd of flag-waving Filipinos.

BEST FINISH Phil Younghusband scores against four defenders as the Philippines held on to win 4-3 against a tough Palestinian squad in Monday’s battle for third place at the Asian Football Confederation in Katmandu, Nepal. Younghusband was the tournament’s highest scorer with six goals. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOALNEPAL.COM

But the celebration was later subdued as the Azkals came out one by one from the dressing room, a stark contrast to what they had achieved. The side came into this tournament as the lowest seed, before slaying two former champions and reaching the semifinals for the first time.

Finding their rhythm on attack, the Azkals survived despite giving up two goals in a thrilling second half to a Palestine side that lost its semifinal match to North Korea, 0-2, last Friday.

“Coming in we were fighting different battlefronts, but credit goes to the guys for pulling through and for … focusing on the game,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami, whose two players—Lexton Moy and Angel Guirado—are under investigation for sexual harassment.

“The target was the semifinals and we’ve reached it. We could have done more, so I’m just glad.”

“I think overall, we deserve to be in third place,” Azkals coach Michael Weiss said. “Congratulations to my team for never giving up, for showing the fighting spirit and setting up fantastic goals.”

The Azkals won three matches and lost twice, incidentally to the two finalists— North Korea and Turkmenistan.

Showing none of the emotional hangover of the heartbreaking 1-2 loss to Turkmenistan in the semifinals, the Azkals got off to a fiery start with Younghusband scoring four minutes into the game.

Chieffy Caligdong found Younghusband breaking loose on the left and the Loyola striker wiggled past a crowd of Palestinian defenders to fire home from 10 yards with his left foot.

Another chance went begging 10 minutes later when Paul Mulders dispossessed the Palestine defender from eight yards, before forcing a reflex save from Ramzi Saleh from close range.

The Palestinians kept up the pressure and equalized through Abdulhamid Abusalah with a curling strike in the 21st minute.

The equalizer looked to have galvanized the Azkals and Caligdong got into an advanced position to get on the end of Guirado’s pass before he was clipped inside the box, prompting Lebanese referee Ali Sabbagh to point to the penalty spot.

Younghusband grabbed his second with a well-placed penalty in the 24th minute, before Guirado slotted home off a James Younghusband through ball to make it 3-1 four minutes before halftime.

Abdulhamid rifled home his second, making it 2-3 in the 64th, from close range after the Azkals defense failed to deal with a cross from the left.

The Filipinos seemed to have a response each time Palestine threatened, and a flowing move saw Phil and James Younghusband combine to set up Juani Guirado for the goal that made it 4-2.

There was some late drama, though, when Fahed Attal curled it home from close range in the 78th minute. But Juani Guirado came up with a tackle to save a late scoring chance and the rest of the Azkals defense hung tough.

“If we stop conceding sloppy goals, we would be massive contenders in this competition for years to come,” said goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who watched from the stands as he was suspended for incurring a red card against Turkmenistan.

Though he gave up three goals, Eduard Sacapano acquitted himself well in place of Etheridge, foiling Husam Wadi’s stinging shot in the 15th minute.