Philippines bow to hosts in King's Cup opener

c/o PFF

The Philippines put in a valiant effort against Thailand in their King’s Cup opener, but were unable to avoid defeat in a rain-soaked evening at the Tinsulanon Stadium. Such was the downpour that the game was postponed for almost an hour due to an unplayable pitch, with the conditions still far from ideal after the restart.

“I think we played a good first 20 minutes. The game was very equal, we had our chances, but so did Thailand,” said head coach Albert Capellas. “After the rain it was a completely different game, one that had nothing to do with what we trained and from what we expected from a top game like this.”

In his first outing in two years for the Philippines, Gerrit Holtmann impressed, particularly in the opening half. The Germany-based winger forced two saves from the Thai goalkeeper shortly before the break, and was a constant threat on the flanks. The second half, however, saw the Thais build momentum, paving the way for star man Chanatip Songkrasin to give the hosts the lead.

Bjorn Kristensen opened his Philippines’ goal scoring account with a spectacular strike to level the game, but Thailand restored their lead through Suphanat Mueanta just five minutes later. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors, as a VAR check on a sliding tackle led to Amani Aguinaldo being shown a straight red — forcing the Philippines to finish the match with 10 minute. Muenta then scored a second with just three minutes to go to ensure a 3-1 victory for the hosts.

“The red card I need to see it more. I only saw one image, but I don’t know if on a field like this you can show a red card. With an action like this, on a field like this, in my point of view, it’s very strict, but it’s nothing we can ever change. I respect the decision of the referees. But when the field is so wet, and players are sliding, we should take this into consideration,” said Capellas on Aguinaldo’s sending off. “Once it was 10 versus 11, Thailand was the better team and they deserved to score one more for sure. Congratulations to Thailand and I hope in the next game we can play with 11 players and a good field."

The Philippines won’t have to wait long for an opportunity to bounce back, as they return to action on Monday, when they face Tajikistan at 4:30PM, for the third place game — a rematch of the Merdeka Cup, which the Tajiks won on penalties. The match will again be aired on One Sports, One Sports+, Pilipinas Live, and on the Philippine Men’s National Football Team’s Facebook Page.