Philippine Azkhals defeats Turkmenistan, gains finals spot

MANILA (PNA/Xinhua) – The Philippines defeated Turkmenistan 1-0 Tuesday night to earn a spot in next year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in Maldives.
The country’s most popular footballer Phil Younghusband scored in the 67th minute with a right-footed shot as the home side secured the top spot in the Group E of the qualifiers by winning all three matches.


The Philippines earned their second straight appearance in the Challenge Cup alongside Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Bangladesh, and host Maldives.
“It was a very hard-fought victory. We went one hundred percent against this very stubborn, very aggressively defending team,” said Philippine coach Michael Weiss.
The qualifiers got off to a wrong foot as all three teams including Cambodia were given three points apiece by forfeiture after Brunei Darussalam withdrew at the last minute, citing “unavoidable circumstances”.
On Sunday, the Philippines rolled to an 8-0 rout of Cambodia with Younghusband scoring four goals and Patino, the highly-touted Fil-Spanish striker, adding two in a match marred by a pair of delays due to a power outage and the heavy downpour that hit the Philippine capital.
Turkmenistan, which opened its campaign with a 7-0 triumph over Cambodia on Friday, settled for second spot with six points but still earned a place in the final stages due to a better goal difference than India.