Philippine Azkals grab another win against Yemen in FIFA QC Qualifier; 2-0
The Philippine national men’s football team got a huge lift from veteran Misagh Bahadoran and newcomer Iain Ramsay as their goals lifted the Azkals to a 2-nil victory over Yemen in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers early Wednesday morning in Doha, Qatar.
Bahadoran, who sparked the Azkals upset of Bahrain last week, fired a spectacular shot at the 52nd minute while Ramsay, one of the team’s newcomers, put the exclamation point at the 75th minute.
Striker Javier Patino also played a crucial role, assisting on both of the goals as the Azkals earned their second straight win of the qualifiers to grab a share of the lead in Group H with six points to show.
After a goalless halftime, Bahadoran propelled the Azkals just seven minutes after the break. Coming off the right flank, he linked up with Patino for a nice two-man action as they entered the box.
Bahadoran, after receiving the ball, then spun past his defender and drilled home a goal at the 52nd minute to give the lead to the Azkals.
See highlights of goals below:
See highlights of goals below:
His shot was followed 23 minutes after by Ramsay. Leading a counterattack, the Filipino-Australian got a pass from Patino and beat defenders before slotting in a goal to seal the win.
After coming off the bench last game, Bahadoran took over the starting spot left by the injured Stephan Schrock. He quickly made his presence felt as he almost assisted on the Azkals’ first goal just two minutes into the match. But an attacking Ramsay couldn’t contain his pass.
Seven minutes after, Ramsay dished a cross to Patino but also failed to make a shot. Phil Younghusband also had two good looks at the goal but they were stifled by the Yemen goalkeeper.
But the Azkals also had some lapses. They allowed Yemen to sneak in on offense through two counterattacks which almost produced goals. Still, the first half ended with a nil-nil tie before Bahadoran scored a goal.
Down by just one, Yemen tried to score an equalizer for the remainder of the match, pressuring the Azkals on defense in an effort to claim more possessions. They came close of tying it at the 73rd minute but their shot went wide off the post.
The Azkals quickly responded in the counterattack, with Ramsay slotting in his first international goal just two minutes after to seal the win.
The match was supposed to be played at Yemen’s home turf, but turmoil there made it impossible. Yemen, ranked 165th in the world, also played in Qatar last week to open its campaign, losing to Group H co-leader North Korea.
The Azkals (137th) will next see action on September 8 against Uzbekistan (74th) at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan.
No comments:
Post a Comment