The Philippines fall short in their 2015 Asian Cup bid after yielding a 1-0 result against Palestine in the 2014 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup final on Friday at the National Football Stadium in the Maldives.
27-year old forward Ashraf Al Fawaghra, who finished the tournament as the top goalscorer, curled a free kick from three meters outside the box past Azkals’ goalkeeper Roland Müller and into the top left corner of the net to send home the lone goal of the contest.
Brilliant FK by Alfawaghra who is setting this tournament alight! Can @PHI_Azkals get back into this? #ACC2014 pic.twitter.com/178i2QAST0
— AFC Asian Cup (@afcasiancup) May 30, 2014
The more aggressive Palestinians, which dominated the posessions throughout the match, sent eight of their 16 shots on-target against Müller, in pale contrast to the nine attempts – including two on-target shots – made by the Philippines throughout the contest.
In the 41st minute, Phil Younghusband sprung past a pair of Palestinian defenders inside the penalty box, only to overshoot the goal for his best chance on goal during the historical night.
Ramzi Saleh, goalkeeper and skipper for the Palestine national squad, kept a rarer clean sheet during their team’s five-game romp through the tournament. Midfielder Murad Said, on the other hand, was awarded as the tournament’s most valuable player.
Thomas Dooley, despite being disappointed with their result, remain upbeat of their team’s future, which includes an ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup berth later on this year.
“My task was to win the Challenge Cup and I didn’t,” said Philippines head coach Dooley to the AFC website. “But on the other hand, I was trying to build something with the team and I think we did a pretty good job through to the final, so I think this team has a bright future. If we continue to work hard and find more young players, I think we will have a great future.”
“It was a tough game. The boys played hard and played good and I am proud of everyone who was in the team who played at this tournament,” added Dooley.
The Philippines made its best finish in the biennial tournament’s five-year history, including a third place finish during the previous edition in 2012 at Nepal.
