The Philippines will be eyeing its second win when it battles Nepal in the AFC U23 Asia Cup on Tuesday at the Republic Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Kick-off is set at 9 p.m. (Manila time) with the Nationals looking to beat the Nepalese anew to boost their chances of advancing to the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The Filipinos are currently in the second place of Group K with a 1-0-1 win-draw-loss record. They need to win by a huge margin over the Nepalese to emerge as one of the four best second-placed teams in the qualifiers that will give them a ticket to the Asian Cup.
But even if they win and Syria loses to host Tajikistan, the Nationals will only go as high as second in the group due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Filipinos lost to the Syrians, 1-2, last 3 September.
Yet, they were able to bounce back with a 1-0 win over the Tajiks, thanks to a lone goal by Noah Leddel.
Leddel, who plays for Cebu FC in the Philippines Football League, stressed that beating the host squad was a total team effort.