The Philippine Azkals played with all their heart last Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to strike out the Yemen team.
Despite having home court advantage at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Azkals failed to overcome Yemen’s Goalkeeper Mohammed Ebrahim Ali Ayash.
Azkals had kept the Yemen team at bay during the first half, keeping the score at 0-0 despite not having striker Phil Younghusband on the team due to suspension.
But the Azkals missed three golden opportunities to put a mark on the scoreboard during the second half. And much to their dismay, failed to keep their defenses up until the last minute.
Ahmed Al-Sarori, Yemen’s midfielder, breezed through the Azkals defenders and struck the winning goal in the 82nd minute of the game, giving the Azkals no chance to equalize.
Yemen, who had no wins in the qualifying rounds so far, scored its first win. While the Azkals extended their losing streak to three.
Still on third position with seven points after this lose, the Azkals now have slimmer chances of entering the third round in their next two games.
Only the top teams from each group will automatically advance to the next round along with the best four second placers from all eight groups.
Currently, North Korea leads group H with 13 points and Uzbekistan at second spot with 12 points.
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