Photograph courtesy of ASEAN United FC.
GOAL

Fiipinos enter ASEAN U23 Championship semis

Ivan Suing

The Philippine U23 men's football team qualified for the ASEAN Championship semifinal in Indonesia for the first time in 20 years after getting a superior win-draw-loss record.

The Nationals were able to make it to the knockout stages thanks to their 2-0 win over Malaysia last 15 July at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

The Philippines actually finished Group A with a 2-0-1 record but its 2-0 win over Brunei last Monday at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi was not counted as Groups B and C only had three teams each.

With that, the Filipinos overtook Myanmar, which finished with two draws in Group B, and Cambodia, which had a 0-1-1 slate in Group C, for the last seat of the semis.

The Philippines will face defending champions Vietnam in a knockout match on Friday in the Indonesian capital at 8 p.m.