Philippine Azkals Suffer Loss To Laos in Friendly Match

The Philippine national men’s football team failed to end its Southeast Asian tour on a high note, suffering a 2-1 loss to a less experienced Laos side Monday night at the national stadium in Vientiane.

As the Azkals struggled on their attack for the whole game, Laos took advantage of the Filipinos’ defensive miscues by scoring both its goals on penalty kicks.

Despite playing in just its first international friendly this year, Laos showed precision on the pitch for most of the first half against the Azkals, resulting to multiple attempts at goal that ended up in the hands of Philippine goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.

Philippine Azkals Defeated Singapore in Friendly Match

The Philippine national men’s football team bounced back from a lackluster outing to notch a historic victory over home team Singapore, 2-0, Friday night.

The Azkals got a boost from the return of Filipino-German midfielder Stephan Schrock, who assisted on goals by longtime Philippine football stars Chieffy Caligdong and Phil Younghusband. Schrock, who plays for Bundesliga first division squad TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, facilitated the Azkals attack for the whole match.

The Filipinos had a sluggish start as their lousy defense almost allowed Singapore to score in the fourth minute, which was saved by goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.

But the Azkals recovered quickly on a fortunate goal by Caligdong off a Schrock pass at the eighth minute. The Singaporeans nearly scored the equalizer in the 35th minute, but referees ruled it as an offside.