The Rest of the World selection defeated their Philippines counterparts today (July 23, 2016) at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. The game was the first on show for the 2016 United Football League All-Star Weekend.
Stephen Appiah (1′), Arthur Kouassi (13′) and substitute Milad Behgandom (85′) of the Rest of the World squad were the goalscorers of yesterday’s game. At the end of ninety minutes, the Rest of The World defeated the Philippines with a score of 3-0.
It proved to be a disastrous start for the Filipinos as Cameroonian forward Stephen Appiah broke through the Philippines’ defense and put the ball past goalkeeper Ref Cuaresma in practically the 1st minute if the game.
Things then became worse for the Philippines as another African forward, Arthur Kouassi of the Ivory Coast, doubled the Rest of the World’s lead at the 13th minute from close range. Less than fifteen minutes into the game, the Philippines had a mountain to climb.
In fairness to the Filipinos, they showed no signs of giving up although better finishing would have helped. A fantastic pass from Jhan-Jhan Melliza should have slotted home by his Green Archers United FC teammate Jimuel Ariola, yet the latter miscued his shot and the chance went begging.
That was very much the best chance for the Philippines in that period as the Rest of the World searched for more goals. One person who deserved credit was Cuaresma whose saves against Christian Nana and Takumi Uesato kept the scores as ease.
Come the second half, the Philippines showed much improvement in overall play. Ariola once again had a sniff at goal, only to be turned away this time by Rest of the World goalie Henri Bandeken Fong. Bandeken Fong was then forced to make another save minutes later when he easily caught Ed Mallari’s free kick.
The game was even at this point and both teams targeted more goals. Uesato had an audacious long-range effort go just over the bar while Philippines defender David Basa also saw his shot go above the goal.
Perhaps the one player on the pitch who should have had a goal was Uesato. It was obviously an off day for him as he directed the ball wide after some good interplay with his teammates. Near the end of the game, another wave of attack by the Rest of the World saw Behgandom finish from the left side of the Philippines penalty box at the 85th minute.
The result was a comprehensive 3-0 win for the Rest of the World team over the Philippines. Rest of the World assistant coach Jorge Kuriyama said, “We had only one training session so we tried to give minutes to everybody and in the end everybody has time to play. One thing I asked is to have fun and the rule that we have is we don’t get any goals against us. They did very well.“
