The Philippine Azkals drew 0-0 against Yemen in their Group B clash in the third qualification round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Wednesday afternoon at the MFF Stadium in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The result means that coach Thomas Dooley’s men and the Yemeni gain one point each in Group B with Mongolia and Palestine set to play against each other later today.
“About the game, I’m pleased. We saw a lot of good things in the game, how we played. We rushed a little bit in the end. We should have played more like we did in the first half,” said Dooley.
The likes of Oliver Bias, Sandro Reyes, and Mike Ott all had sniffs at goal in the first half but they failed to clinch the opener for the Azkals. Philippines goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was a busy man at the other end as he was tested by Yemeni attackers who took advantage of some poor defending from the Filipinos.
In the second half, Kenshiro Daniels saw his header caught by the Yemeni goalkeeper while substitute Bienvenido Maranon saw his attempt blocked off. Yemen then became the more dangerous side in the final minutes of the match but Etheridge thwarted away any danger to salvage the draw.
“Overall, there’s nothing lost. We still have two games. We have to beat Mongolia and we have to maybe beat Palestine,” added Dooley.
Both teams will resume their campaigns on Saturday. The Philippines takes on host nation Mongolia at 12:30 PM, while Yemen will go up against Palestine at 5:00 PM.
Philippines XI: Etheridge (GK, C), Bias, Aguinaldo, Tabinas, Reyes, Ott MR, Ott M, Sato, Kekkonen, Reichelt, Daniels.
Yemen XI: Al-Baidhani, Matran, Al-Radei ©, Al-Sarori, Al-Dahi, Al-Wajih, Sabah, Sabarah, Al-Maari, Al-Gahwashi, Al-Harsh (GK).
