PH men get rude welcome from Uzbekistan
The Philippine men’s U-23 football team found out the hard way how football has grown in the Asian Games since the country last participated in the sport more than 50 years ago.
A 5-1 defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Nagoya showed the Philippines this is not the same Asiad that the national football team last joined in 1974.
“This is another level of challenge,” coach Garrath McPherson said before the event started. “This tournament has the best teams from across Asia, many of whom are regulars in knockout stages of continental tournaments.”
“For our players to reach new heights, they need to be exposed to this level,” he added.
Until the final 20 minutes, the Philippines looked like it was ready for this level.
Already underdogs against the Uzbeks, the Filipinos were reduced to 10 men after Gavin Muens was sent off early in the second half with a straight red card. Despite that, the Philippines nearly tied the score at 1-1 when John Lucero’s shot hit the post.
The Filipinos later trimmed Uzbekistan’s lead to 2-1 when Martin Merino produced the team’s only goal in the 62nd.
But Uzbekistan went on a goal-scoring spree, beginning in the 70th minute that led to the rout.
Familiar next foe
The Filipinos will next face Vietnam in Group C, a familiar foe from almost a year ago. It was Vietnam that defeated the Philippines in the semifinals of the Thailand Southeast Asian Games men’s U-23 tournament, breaking a scoreless tie before stoppage time with two late goals.
Its match on Friday could determine if the Philippines can stay alive in its quest to reach the knockout stage as one of the top two teams in Group C or as one of the best third-placers.
The Philippines came to the competition with the addition of three overage players in Michael Baldisimo, Christian Rontini and Scott Woods to mix up with the U-23 core led by Sandro Reyes.
“We’ve been doing a good job in the last three tournaments (Asean U-23, Sea Games and AFC U-23 Qualifiers), so we just want to fix the small details now, because this is probably going to be the toughest tournament out of all of them,” said Reyes.
