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Football: Azkals rue 'dubious' penalty in costly loss to Thailand

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Philippine Azkals will be unable to advance to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup after a loss to Thailand. Photo courtesy of the AFF." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/sports/12/15/football_aff-suzuki-cup_ph-vs-thailand.jpg"/><figcaption>The Philippine Azkals will be unable to advance to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup after a loss to Thailand. Photo courtesy of the AFF.</figcaption></figure></div> The Philippine Azkals&#x27; hopes of playing in the AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals were dashed on Tuesday night in a 1-2 defeat against Thailand at the National Stadium in Singapore.Although the Azkals still have a game left -- they battle Myanmar on Saturday, December 18 -- they won&#x27;t be able to advance ahead of Singapore and Thailand, who currently occupy the top two spots in Group A.Azkals coach Stewart Hall was left to lament the &quot;dubious&quot; penalty that they gave up in the 78th minute, which allowed Thai legend Teerasil Dangda to score from the spot and seal the full points for the War Elephants.&quot;(The) penalty, very dubious,&quot; said Hall. &quot;Obviously, it&#x27;s the deciding factor.&quot;&quot;I&#x27;d like to see it a few times, but my players are not happy with the decision, and from where I looked, it was very, very innocuous,&quot; he added.Teerasil opened the scoring in the 26th minute, as Thailand finally broke a stubborn Philippine defense. A superb cross by Theerathon Bunmathan was met by Teerasil, whose volley left no chance for Azkals goalkeeper Kevin Hansen.But the Azkals -- who were in a must-win situation -- got back in the match in the 57th minute after a goal by Patrick Reichelt, who pounced on a poor clearance by Thailand to breathe some life in the Philippines&#x27; hopes.Those hopes were wrecked in the 78th minute, however, after Amani Aguinaldo brought down Thitipan Puangchan inside the box. Teerasil, now the all-time leading goal-scorer in Suzuki Cup history, stepped up to fire his second goal of the match and push Thailand back ahead, 2-1.&quot;First goal, obviously, it&#x27;s our fault. We&#x27;ve given the ball away in the corner, we were a bit sloppy and loose on possession, and we&#x27;ve given the ball away, and they&#x27;ve got the cross-in for the goal. So that could have been avoided,&quot; Hall acknowledged.But the Philippines coach insisted that the Azkals were very much in the game up until they conceded the penalty.&quot;There wasn&#x27;t a need to change or substitute in terms of cramping or anything, and up until the penalty, we were well in the game,&quot; said Hall. &quot;Well in the game.&quot;&quot;We played much better in the second half. We changed the system, we talked about it at halftime. So the substitutes were late, most of them, but it was because of the nature of the game, the position of the game,&quot; he added.Hall made some late substitutions, sending in naturalized striker Bienvenido Marañon for Reichelt, and Amin Nazari for Kevin Ingreso in the 88th minute.Nazari had one attempt in extra time, but his long-range attempt went wide to the right just three minutes before the final whistle.Though Hall was not happy with the call that led to Teerasil&#x27;s match-winning penalty, he also gave full credit to the Thailand team which has now won all three of its group round matches in the Suzuki Cup.&quot;They&#x27;re a good team. They play some good football, they attack together, they defend together. Credit to Thailand,&quot; said Hall.

The Philippine Azkals' hopes of playing in the AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals were dashed on Tuesday night in a 1-2 defeat against Thailand.

Football: Azkals rue 'dubious' penalty in costly loss to Thailand

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Football: Azkals rue 'dubious' penalty in costly loss to Thailand

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 15, 2021 03:13 PM PHT

Read More:

football

AFF Suzuki Cup

Philippine Azkals

Thailand

Stewart Hall

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