YANGON - Thousands of fans cheered for the host country Myanmar in its game against the Philippines.
Using their quickness on point passing and efficient offense, the Myanmar White Angels dominated the first half—recording seven goal attempts 25 minutes into the game.
Despite this, Myanmar went scoreless in the first half thanks to the heroics of Philippine Azkals goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.
The Philippines appeared more aggressive on offense in the second half, sparked by the entry of Yanti Barsales.
In the 75th minute, Barsales was fouled hard in the penalty area by Myanmar’s goalkeeper, prompting officials to show a red card.
The foul also gave the Philippines a golden opportunity to score. James Younghusband took the penalty kick for the roughed up Barsales, who had to leave the game in a stretcher.
Younghusband scored on the penalty kick, giving the Philippines a 1-0 lead.
The Philippines seemed to have control of the game since taking the lead, but the slim lead was squandered when the Azkals’ Simon Greatwich was called for a foul in the final minute of extra time, thus opening the door for Myanmar to score via free kick.
“Very unfortunate. Personally, I don’t think it’s a foul but the team played well,” said Neil Etheridge.
The Philippines would have received three points for a 1-0 win. Instead, Philippines and Myanmar were both given a point each.
The Akzals promise to do better in their remaining games against Palestine on Wednesday, and Bangladesh on Friday.
The team needs six points to guarantee a spot in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2012, but the team has a chance to qualify even with 4 or 5 points.
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