The national men’s football team remains fired up despite suffering a 1-3 loss to Hong Kong in a friendly match at the Hong Kong Stadium late Thursday.

Phl head coach Albert Capellas said although things didn’t go their way, they are taking it as a stepping stone for their actual mission, the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup that will kick off next month.

Capellas believes that their setback made them stronger, hungrier as they seek to advance to the semifinals of the prestigious regional tournament after a six-year drought. They will open their campaign against Myanmar on 12 December.

“It’s better if these things happen in a friendly game than in an official competition. We’ll use this as a learning lesson,” said Capellas, whose wards were supposed to have another friendly against Sri Lanka at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Philippine Football Federation, however, had to call off the match after the Sri Lankans failed to secure the necessary funds.

“I’m sure my players will do better. I’m very proud of them because they are taking the risks in a lot of aspects of the game.”

Against Hong Kong, the Filipinos hopes collapsed after Matthew Orr connected a brace in the 45th and 3rd minute of added time while Everto Camaro scored in the 83rd minute to ice the match.

On the other hand, Bjorn Kristensen emerged as the lone Filipino to score after hitting a goal in the 48th minute.

Capellas said more than skills, they also have to be mentally tough to prepare, not just for the Mitsubishi Cup, but other international events as well.

“Football is a mental game. People have to understand that,” Capellas said.

“Of course, players have a lot of qualities. They have technical level, physical power but football is a mental game. It was a very equal match and I think our lack of experience didn’t help us to control that game in a better way.”