PH Azkals dominate Macau in Peace Cup

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A hattrick by Dennis Wolf capped a dominant night for the Philippines, clobbering Macau, 5-0, and keeping a clean slate in the Philippine Football Peace Cup Thursday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Wolf struck two goals in the first half then completed his first international hattrick in the 64th minute, helping the Azkals take the lead in the four-national tournament.

“(It was a) dream come true,” said Wolf, whose last goal for the national team happened way back in February.

Shrugging off a cut on his eyebrow, Wolf still managed to bang in his second goal just before the intermission after opening up the scoring in the 22nd minute.

Patrick Reichelt, whose lone goal saved the Philippines over Guam, 1-0, Tuesday, meanwhile, put the finishing touches with a final goal in the 69th minute.

Carli De Murga also pulled one back just four minutes into the second half to triple the Azkals’ lead and ease off the tension for the rest of the night.

The Philippines—who is playing sans top goal scorer Phil Younghusband and brother James—have kept its clean sheet after two matches.

The victory puts the Azkals ahead in points, and builds up momentum as they go up against one of the tougher squads in Chinese-Taipei on Saturday.

The Taiwanese blanked still winless Guamanians, 2-0, in the first match.