The Philippine Azkals suffered a rude awakening in their first match of the 2022 Tri-Nations Series after they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Malaysia, Wednesday evening at the National Stadium in Singapore.
Two first-half strikes from Malaysian forward Akhyar Rashid were enough to seal the victory for coach Kim Pan-gon’s men.
The Johor Darul Ta’zim winger eluded newcomer right-back Enrique Linares and shot past goalie Neil Etheridge at the second minute of the match and he followed it up with another superb finish off a counter-attack at the 24th minute.
The Azkals look to bounce back as they take on Singapore on Tuesday while Malaysia faces the same opposition on Saturday. Both matches will be held at the National Stadium with kick-off time scheduled at 8:00 PM.
Malaysia XI: Marlias (GK, C), Cools, Saad, Piee, Ong, Kutty, Rahim, Raj, Ahmad, Aiman, Rashid.
Philippines XI: Etheridge (GK), De Murga, Linares, Bardanca, Ingreso, Ramsay, Ott, Schrock ©, Strauss, Reichelt, Maranon.
