THE Philippines committed the same mistakes and suffered the same result as it bowed to North Korea, 3-1, in their international friendly on Monday night to come up empty handed in a two-match home stand at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Coming off a loss to Bahrain with the same scoreline last Friday, the Azkals put up another sluggish start as they surrendered two early goals once again before letting the North Koreans pile the pressure with another goal in the second half at the rain-soaked venue.
Iain Ramsay came off the bench and pulled a goal back for the Filipino booters, but it proved too little, too late as they failed to duplicate their stunning 3-2 win over the North Koreans in the World Cup qualifiers last March.
Pak Kwang Ryong broke the Azkals’ defense 11 minutes into the match with a header off a corner, before Pak Song Chol and Jong Gwan also scored for the visitors, past ‘keeper Roland Muller.
The Azkals got in the score sheet courtesy of Ramsay, who came in at halftime and chipped in a goal past the North Korean ‘keeper in the 76th minute.