Philippines slams Myanmar, 2-0

The Philippines blanked Myanmar, 2-0, to jumpstart its bid in men’s football at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games campaign Friday night in Thailand.

Next up for the Philippines is defending champion Indonesia, a matchup on Monday at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiangmai that doesn’t give national team head coach Garrath McPherson the creeps.

With a 1-0 win-loss record in Group C, the Filipino booters will secure their spot in the semifinals if they upset the Indonesians.

“Indonesia has had more time to prepare, but this isn’t always a good thing. Sitting around a hotel in camp waiting for a game isn’t necessarily any better than getting out and showing a good performance, taking three points and building confidence for that game,” McPherson said.

“Right now it’s recovery for the group, mentally and physically, and we will turn our focus to the next game from lunchtime tomorrow afternoon.”

With senior team players like Sandro Reyes, Alex Monis and Santi Rublico in the squad, McPherson believes they have what it takes to challenge the Garuda. 

“We have very strong players. The sides that win the games have a better attitude and a mentality so, we are excited at the opportunity to play,” McPherson said.

“You want to play these sides. It’s great. They’ve been able to bring back some players from their senior team and for our players, it’s going to be an opportunity to compete against some of the best players in Southeast Asia.”

The Indonesians will have defender Muhammad Ferarri in their ranks as he is the most experienced with 23 international games under his belt.

Jens Raven will be a scoring threat for Indonesia with seven goals for his country.