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The Men's Philippine Football Team and Iraq battle in a FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match in Manila on March 26, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers

Romwel Anzures

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171152537064720240326-fifa-pilipinas-iraq-2MD_5088-MD.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">PMNFT head coach Tom Saintfiet against Iraq. <strong><em>Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News. </em></strong></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Philippine men&#x27;s national football team&#x27;s 5-0 defeat against Iraq on Tuesday night was new head coach Tom Saintfiet&#x27;s &#x27;biggest&#x27; loss in his career.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/3/26/fifa-philippines-falters-against-iraq-remains-winless-in-group-f-2019">READ: Philippines falters against Iraq, remains winless in Group F</a></div><p>&quot;It has been my biggest defeat in my life as a coach,&quot; Saintfiet told reporters during the post-match press conference at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. </p><p>Iraq opened the scoring in the 14th minute through Aymen Hussein, before Amir Al-Ammari found the back of the net in the 30th minute. Six minutes later, Hussein grabbed his second to send the visitors into the break with a three-goal cushion.</p><p>The Filipinos were unable to respond after halftime, and Zideane Iqbal and Zaid Tahseen added two more for Iraq.</p><p>&quot;As a youth player, I&#x27;ve lost big, but as a coach, I don&#x27;t have much experience in losing in [this manner]. &quot;I&#x27;m very disappointed, but I&#x27;m also very sorry,&quot; Saintfiet said.</p><p>&quot;My apologies to the 10,000 fans who were in the stadium, but also to people who were watching at home. My apologies for the big defeat,&quot; he continued.</p><p>Despite this, he refused to throw anyone under the bus.</p><p>&quot;The negatives, I would talk inside doors with people responsible for that. With staff and players, we will discuss what went wrong,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I saw some weaknesses, and I saw some things we have to improve on, and that is also positive because I can learn from it. But we will discuss that inside.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/3/26/fifa-coach-apologizes-for-ph-loss-to-iraq-thanks-fans-758" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">READ: Coach apologizes for PH loss to Iraq, thanks fans</a></div><p>Instead, Saintfiet opted to point out the things that they can build on in their next two games in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. </p><p>&quot;I saw a lot of positives. I think we tried to play more football than in Iraq. We had more ball possession, we created chances for ourselves,&quot; while also hailing some players who stood out for PMNT. </p><p>&quot;Santi Rublico had two good actions with shots. I saw a lot of good players, Santi is one of them, but also later Pocholo [Bugas], and Mark Swainston coming very good in.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I think it&#x27;s very good that our homegrown players or local-based players play in the local league like Swainston and Gayoso, who played, also in my eyes, again a very good game,&quot; he added.</p><p>The Belgian mentor also kept an upbeat spirit as even with the 0-3-1 win-loss-draw record of the National team in Group F, advancing into the next round is not impossible.</p><p>&quot;We can get seven points and if we get seven points, it would mean that we beat Indonesia away, and from my knowledge, the head-to-head counts in advance of the goal difference so if we beat Indonesia and they drew here, that means that we would be ahead of Indonesia,&quot; explained Saintfiet.</p><p>&quot;As long as we have hope, as long as we are alive, we are not dead,&quot; he added.</p><p>The Philippines, however, will need to virtually sweep their next two games which will be against Indonesia and Vietnam in early June.</p><p>The PMNT needs to overtake those two squads as they currently sit at nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in Group F, with the former currently having seven points, while the latter has three.</p><p>On top of Group F is Iraq who is unbeaten in four games and currently has 12 points. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2998050"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>

<p>The Philippine men’s national football team’s 5-0 defeat against Iraq last night was new head coach Tom Saintfiet’s ‘biggest’ loss in his career.</p>

The Philippine men’s national football team’s 5-0 defeat against Iraq last night was new head coach Tom Saintfiet’s ‘biggest’ loss in his career.

Football: Saintfiet focuses on positives after huge loss to Iraq

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Football: Saintfiet focuses on positives after huge loss to Iraq

Romwel Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 27, 2024 05:28 PM PHT

Read More:

Football

FIFA

2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Neil Etheridge

Philippine men's national football team

PMNFT

PFF

Philippine Football Federation

Tom Saintfiet

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