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Football: Azkals survive Fiji scare in international friendly

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ABS-CBN News

The Philippine Azkals dodged a bullet Thursday night in their international friendly as they survived a gritty challenge posed by Fiji at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.After scoring 3 goals, the nationals found themselves in the defensive with Fiji mounting a rally late in the second half.Phil Younghusband, Hikaru Minegishi and Kevin Ingresso each scored a goal for the nationals, who are preparing for their final 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Tajikistan on Tuesday.The 115th-ranked Pinoys initially took advantage of Fiji&#x27;s weak backline which slung low near the visitors&#x27; goal in the first half.Younghusband struck his 49th international goal in the 29th minute by converting a penalty kick for the Philippines. It was Minegishi&#x27;s turn to do damage for the Philippine side by scoring in the 51st minute to double the Azkals&#x27; lead.In the 61st minute, Ingresso fired a volley as a follow-up to Misagh Bahadoran&#x27;s failed header to give the Philippines a dominant 3-0 advantage.But the 168th-ranked Fijians refused to go away quietly, picking up the ante midway the second half.Ame Votoniu scored a breakthrough for Fiji by capitalizing on Nick O&#x27;Donnel&#x27;s error in the 74th to give the visitors their first goal.The threat became more evident for the Azkals when Roy Krishna scored on a penalty to pull Fiji to within 3-2 in the 80th minute.Fiji then became more urgent in their attacks as the final minutes were ticking away.Fortunately, O&#x27;Donnel and the rest of the defense were able to survive successive corners by the Fijians to preserve a 3-2 victory. The Azkals will next face Tajikistan this coming Tuesday.A win over the Tajiks will send the Azkals to a historic first appearance in the AFC Asian Cup.(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website.</a>)

The Philippine Azkals dodged a bullet Thursday night in their international friendly as they survived a gritty challenge posed by Fiji at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Philippine Azkals dodged a bullet Thursday night in their international friendly as they survived a gritty challenge posed by Fiji at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.