Camille Naredo

The Philippine men's national football team ahead of their match against Thailand in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championships semifinals, December 30, 2024 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. PFF/PMNFT

The Philippine men's national football team ahead of their match against Thailand in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championships semifinals, December 30, 2024 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand

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2024 ASEAN Championship

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1735632899276DSC09110_EMBED.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Philippine men&#x27;s national football team ahead of their match against Thailand in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championship semifinals, December 30, 2024 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. PFF/PMNFT"/>The Philippine men&#x27;s national football team ahead of their match against Thailand in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championship semifinals, December 30, 2024 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. PFF/PMNFT</div>MANILA -- The Philippines will learn from the heartbreaking end to their campaign in the 2024 ASEAN Championship and come back stronger, vowed head coach Albert Capellas.A 2-1 advantage after the first leg of the semifinals wasn&#x27;t enough, as the Filipinos were beaten 3-1 by holders Thailand after extra time in the second leg on Monday night at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.The manner of their defeat was painful: the Filipinos forced extra time thanks to a stunning Bjørn Kristensen strike in the 84th minute. They came within minutes of forcing a penalty shootout, but Suphanat Mueanta came through with the clutch header in the 116th that won it for the defending champions. &quot;I&#x27;m very proud of my players,&quot; Capellas said after the semifinal, which ended 4-3 on aggregate for Thailand. &quot;We will come back stronger, I can promise you that.&quot;<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2024/12/30/ph-men-bow-to-thailand-to-end-campaign-in-mitsubishi-electric-cup-2348">READ: PH men bow to Thailand to end campaign in Mitsubishi Electric Cup</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2024/12/31/football-capellas-very-proud-of-phs-gallant-stand-against-thailand-0820">READ: Capellas &#x27;very proud&#x27; of PH&#x27;s gallant stand against Thailand</a></div>Capellas said the match was up-and-down for the Philippines, as they &quot;played good in the first 20 minutes and in the last 20 minutes.&quot; However, they faltered in the final 10 minutes of extra time, allowing Thailand to run rampant in the box.&quot;We allowed too many crosses,&quot; the coach lamented. &quot;Next time, we will learn from that lesson, and we will come back stronger.&quot;Capellas has reason to be optimistic: he took over the Philippines&#x27; program just in September, yet steered the squad to its first semifinals appearance in the Mitsubishi Electric Cup since 2018.There, they claimed a breakthrough win against Thailand -- a team that the Philippines has not beaten in 52 years. <script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSdFsghf1XiOliM&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script>&quot;We just arrived at this level,&quot; Capellas pointed out. &quot;It&#x27;s the first time that we are here after a lot of years. We have to learn from this experience.&quot;&quot;All I can promise is that we&#x27;ll learn from this, and we&#x27;ll become stronger,&quot; he added.To do so, however, Capellas acknowledged that there is plenty of work to be done -- and not just by his players and their coaching staff.&quot;I hope we get the support from the federation, the government, and from the people who love football, to help us grown football in the Philippines, so we&#x27;ll have more games like this,&quot; he said.&quot;We have to move to the next level,&quot; Capellas added. &quot;We have to have a more powerful league. We have to develop youth football. We need to invest ... We will work very hard to make it happen.&quot;The Philippines was seeking a first-ever Finals appearance in the ASEAN Championship; Thailand, for its part, is still on track for a third straight title.They will play Vietnam in the two-legged final that starts on January 2.

The Philippines will learn from the heartbreaking end to their campaign in the 2024 ASEAN Championship and come back stronger, vowed head coach Albert Capellas.

The Philippines will learn from the heartbreaking end to their campaign in the 2024 ASEAN Championship and come back stronger, vowed head coach Albert Capellas.

PH men will 'become stronger' after heartbreaking end to ASEAN Championship campaign

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PH men will 'become stronger' after heartbreaking end to ASEAN Championship campaign

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 31, 2024 04:34 PM PHT

Read More:

abssports

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football

Philippines

Philippine men's national football team

PMNFT

Thailand

Albert Capellas

ASEAN Championship

2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup

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