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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Azkals turn back Afghanistan, 2-1, in FIFA friendly match

Azkals turn back Afghanistan, 2-1, in FIFA friendly match

Published Sep 12, 2023 01:41 pm

At A Glance

  • The Azkals recovered from a 1-0 deficit with goals from Sebastian Rasmussen and Christian Rontini in the second half.

The Philippine men’s football team turned back Afghanistan, 2-1, in its FIFA international friendly match on Tuesday night, Sept. 12, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

rontini.jpeg
The Philippine Azkals recover just in time in the second half to overcome Afghanistan in a friendly match. 

The Azkals recovered from a 1-0 deficit with goals from Sebastian Rasmussen and Christian Rontini in the second half.

Rasmussen outran three defenders and scored in the 74th minute to tie the match at 1-1, before Rontini fired in the 81st minute to give the Azkals the lead and eventually, the victory.

It was the Azkals' first triumph over Afghanistan after their previous two meetings ended in stalemates in 2006 and 2014.

It also boosted the Azkals' morale heading into their camp for the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup third round qualifiers happening in November.

Coming off a 1-1 draw with Chinese Taipei a couple of days prior, the Azkals started aggressively with a couple of early chances in the first half, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. 

Both squads entered the break on a scoreless draw, with Azkals captain and goalkeeper Neil Etheridge keeping a clean sheet. 

But the Afghans finally woke up from a slumber in the 64th minute with a goal from Omid Popalzay off a long pass from Zelfagar Nazari. 

It didn’t take long for the Azkals to find an equalizer from Rasmussen. They continued their onslaught after Jose Porteria's shot was deflected, earning them a corner kick. 

Seven minutes later, the Nationals converted their own set piece when Bienvenido Marañon retrieved his own corner kick from Jesse Curran and delivered it straight to Christian Rontini for the go-ahead header to put the Azkals on top.

It became a breeze for the Azkals the rest of the way including the five minutes of added time to claim the win in front of the home crowd. 

 

Related Tags

Philippine Azkals Neil Etheridge Philippine Football Federation
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