Despite scoring the Philippine Men’s National Team’s first goal in the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup, Filipino-Norwegian forward Bjørn Kristensen was disappointed that the home side couldn’t secure a win, settling for a 1-1 draw with Myanmar Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Kristensen, who plays for Aalesunds FK in Norway, capitalized on a pass from midfielder Sandro Reyes, drawing a penalty from Myanmar goalkeeper Zin Nyi Nyi Aung. He converted from the spot in the 72nd minute to equalize for Albert Capellas’ squad.
Unfortunately, that was the only time the team, formerly known as the Azkals, found the back of the net. Kristensen, Zico Bailey, and Christian Rontini squandered several chances before and after the equalizer.
“We wanted to go for one more goal but unfortunately, we didn’t get it,” said the 22-year-old striker, who now has three goals for the Philippines. “It’s always frustrating. We had the chances, and we should have scored—it’s as easy as that. Now, we have to go and practice, and hopefully, we’ll score more goals against Laos.”
In addition to wasting opportunities in front of goal, the Philippines also allowed Myanmar to score against the run of play when Maung Maung Lwin’s free kick in the first half beat goalkeeper Patrick Deyto.
Luck was on the home team’s side in the second half, though, as a second Myanmar goal was ruled out for offside.
While the Philippines will lament failing to win one of its winnable matches in Group B, Thursday’s other game saw Indonesia only manage a 3-3 draw with Laos at home, keeping the teams close in the standings.
Kristensen remains confident his team can bounce back and capitalize on any further slip-ups by their regional rivals, as long as he and his teammates are more composed when the scoring chances arise.
“We are a good team. We create a lot of chances but, in the end, we have to score goals. We’ll work on that and happy days will come,” he said.
The Philippines has not advanced to the semifinals since the 2018 edition under the late Sven-Göran Eriksson. For that drought to end this campaign, the Filipinos will need to work harder on both ends of the pitch to secure victories.
Kristensen has big dreams for the team this campaign, and for him, it all starts with putting the ball in the back of the net more consistently.
“Of course, we want to go far, but we have to take it one game at a time. We have a good squad. There are a lot of positive things there, but we just need to score and we will see the potential,” he said.
