Phl booters stay positive

The Philippine national men’s football team still believes it can make the semifinal ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup despite facing tough opponents for the remainder of its campaign.

Head coach Albert Capellas said while Vietnam and Indonesia are their last assignments in Group B, they knew they could get wins after settling for 1-1 draws against Myanmar and Laos.

The Philippines is going up against the Vietnamese at press time at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

“When I watched both games, I really thought that the players really deserved more points. But this is the reality. We only get two points and we are not happy about that,” Capellas said.

“If we beat Vietnam, we really are in a very good position to qualify. That is the nice part of football. When you lose, sometimes you still have a lot of chances.”

After Vietnam, the Philippines will face Indonesia on 21 December at the Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia.

The last time the Philippines made it to the semifinals was back in 2018 under head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Capellas said the Filipinos will eventually get more goals after setting up a lot of good chances in their first two games of the tournament.

“We drew two games, but we created a lot of chances. That means it gives me, as a coach, a lot of belief in these players,” Capellas said.

“I believe the first eleven who will start, plus the players who will come in will have enough quality but also enough courage and enough energy to win that game.”