ANGEL Guirado struggles to get past Syrian defenders.
The Philippine men’s football team showed a better performance in the second half, but it was not enough as it surrendered a 1-0 decision to Syria at the start of the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Qualifiers at the Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai.
Ward Alsamh scored the winning goal in the 23rd minute and the Syrians weathered the second-half barrage of the Azkals to keep their spot in Group A with 15 points built on five wins in as many games.
But the Phl XI’s performance was far better from their first-round meeting where the Azkals absorbed a 5-2 shellacking in their opening game last September at the Pana-ad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.
The Philippines stayed with seven points on two wins, one draw and two losses in Group A.
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After a slow start in the first half, the Azkals had a couple of chances to tie game but Angel Guirado and Mark missed their opportunities in the second half.
Guirado had a golden chance to knot the game after a fine ball from Curt Dizon but his shot in the 54th minute failed to hit the back of the net.
Same with the strike of Hartmann, whose shot fell on the hands of Syrian goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma in the 73rd minute of play.
Azkals’ keeper Neil Etheridge did a fine job in the second half as he made back-to-back great saves against the Syrian forwards.
The Philippine team will have a long break before plunging back to action again on 26 March against Guam at home. The Azkals beat Guam, 4-1, last 5 September in Dededo.
