Camille Naredo

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football

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Philippine Men&#x27;s Under-23 National Team ended its historic campaign in the U23 ASEAN Championship Mandiri Cup 2025 with a fourth place finish. The Philippines lost to Thailand, 3-1, in the bronze medal match on Monday held at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/7/23/football-ph-u23-team-books-historic-semifinals-spot-in-mandiri-cup-1507">READ: PH U23 team books historic semifinals spot in Mandiri Cup</a></div>Phanthamit Prapanth gave the Thai squad the lead in the 29th minute after diverting a cross from Sittha Boonlha. Siraphop Wandee struck again for Thailand, adding a second goal with a left-footed shot in the 74th minute. Otu Banatao kept the hopes of the Philippines alive with a header in the 79th minute, cutting the lead to just one.  But Seksan Ratree, who came in for Siraphop, responded minutes later with a goal in the 86th minute. He was subbed in the match just a minute before his shot, which ultimately won the bronze for Thailand.  Philippine U23 head coach Garrath McPherson shared his thoughts on the result after the tough loss. &quot;At the moment, it&#x27;s hard, it&#x27;s a hard one for me, so we came here and we wanted desperately to win the football match and we wanted to do that with the same positivity and aggressiveness as what we&#x27;ve shown,&quot; he said in the post-game interview. &quot;I actually feel today that we played through our midfield more than what we had in the past. We encouraged our fullbacks to be great, we showed their qualities in the attacking third, we saw our fullbacks higher, we saw our number six Gavin playing a lot more forward passes, which he&#x27;d say is a good quality,&quot; the mentor added. McPherson pointed out the takeaways he got from the team&#x27;s performance. &quot;We played some of the best football, I think, from my perspective in the system that I want to finish team, some of the best football that we played this whole tournament,&quot; he said. &quot;There was, for those that obviously watched the game, probably our one first enemy, a couple of goals transitional and just give away from the back there. But for my players, we encouraged them to play with demand that they&#x27;re great and that they are able to put the ball between the lines. But their own learning and development is that they just need to improve in this,&quot; McPherson explained. Despite the loss, the Philippine Football Federation lauded the Under-23 squad for the fourth place finish, its highest rank in ASEAN football. &quot;Our U23 squad&#x27;s fourth-place finish at the ASEAN tournament is a historic first and a clear sign of our team&#x27;s upward trajectory. We commend our players, coaches, staff and management for making our nation proud,&quot; PFF President John Gutierrez said. &quot;This achievement wouldn&#x27;t have been possible without the passionate support of our stakeholders, sponsors, parents and every Filipino football fan,&quot; he added. McPherson described what the Mandiri Cup means for the Philippine squad. &quot;For the youth teams, the national team programs, this tournament is a stepping stone towards obviously the Asian League Cup qualification, as well as the SEA Games at the end of the year,&quot; he said. &quot;So I wanted to give our players opportunity at this level and exposure to this level of competition. And for many of our teams, these are the hardest games that I&#x27;ve played in their careers. So we achieved that,&quot; McPherson shared. The coach praised his team for showing their identity and style of playing against traditional powerhouses, especially Vietnam and Thailand in the Southeast Asian region.  &quot;We know what they can do against the teams that we&#x27;ve played. And this is also important why we wanted to have this identity, this playing style,&quot; McPherson said. &quot;So this is why this tournament I&#x27;ve picked for this team in the Philippines is, maybe like the senior games team has been doing, is there&#x27;s an identity here with this group of players that we expect them to keep the ball...  It&#x27;s a good sign, too, as to what our players at the moment, what their levels are physically, what they can do for us,&quot; he pointed out. After their historic run in the Mandiri Cup, the Under-23 team will begin its build-up for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in December, which will take place in Thailand.

The Philippine Men's Under-23 National Team ended its historic campaign in the U23 ASEAN Championship Mandiri Cup 2025 with a fourth place finish.

The Philippine Men's Under-23 National Team ended its historic campaign in the U23 ASEAN Championship Mandiri Cup 2025 with a fourth place finish.

Football: PH U23 finish fourth in Mandiri Cup after loss to Thailand

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Football: PH U23 finish fourth in Mandiri Cup after loss to Thailand

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 29, 2025 06:21 PM PHT

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Philippines U23 men's national football team

U23 ASEAN Championship Mandiri Cup

Mandiri Cup

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