Homegrown players lifted the Philippine Men’s National Football Yeam to its first win of the year, nipping visiting Nepal, 1-0, in a FIFA friendly Thursday evening at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Las Piñas-born Jarvey Gayoso from Kaya FC, substituting for the injured Patrick Reichelt late in the first half, nailed his second international goal, extricating a difficult strike off his own miss—while slumped on the ground and in heavy traffic—in the 49th minute for the game’s lone goal coming from Mike Ott’s left corner kick.
On the defensive end, Stallion Laguna’s Patrick Deyto, playing for the Azkals for the first time since 2019, saved a crucial power header by Ananta Tamang off a free kick Arik Bista from midfield in the 62nd minute to avert a potential draw.
In the ensuing possession, defender Sanish Shreshtra managed to save his team from a 1v3 attack by the Azkals, intercepting a right cross by Kenshiro Daniels to open teammates OJ Porteria and Ott.
Deyto, with the help of Davao-born wingback Daisuke Sato, team captain Carli De Murga, and sophomore Jesper Nyholm in the defensive third, continued to stymy the decent chances created by Nepal on counterattacks and set pieces.
Indeed, Nepal threatened to goal late in the game but Deyto blocked another direct header by Tamang off another midfield set piece in the 88th minute, as the world number 136 Philippines ran away with their fifth win against the world number 174 Nepal.
Returning Azkals head coach Hans Michael Weiss praised Deyto who “stood up for the team” despite his early criticisms.
However, the German mentor, who led the nationals in the first half of its “Golden Era”, criticized the Azkals for “not [being] good shape.”
“If this is the case, you can’t put the gameplan into reality,” he said.
In conjunction, Weiss added, “we could not go into pressing situations because of lack of power.”
Still, Weiss expressed delight about winning the Azkals first game of the year and his first return game since 2014.
“Football is a results-based win and I am happy to return with a win. I guess our next match versus ChineseTaipei, we’ll play better,” Weiss concluded.
For his part, Nepal head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese likewise credited Deyto’s performance for his crucial saves but took note of his team’s “confusion” in set pieces.
“I want more aggression on the attacking phase,” the Italian journeyman remarked, drawing positives on the fact that the Azkals used to beat Nepal by as much as four goals in past fixtures.
It was the fifth win of the Azkals against the Himalayan squad in six games.
The Azkals will round-up their June friendlies against world number 156 Taiwan on June 19 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
It will be a difficult match though for the Azkals as they will miss the services of current leading scorer Reichelt, who suffered from an apparent deep cut on his eyebrow in an accidental collision against Bista in the 40th minute.
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