THE Philippines salvaged a 2-2 draw against Timor Leste on Monday at the start of the AFF U23 Championship at the Modorok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Ivan Ouano scored twice, his 62nd-minute goal leveling the match to take a point from Timor Leste in Group A.
Ouano had made it 1-1 with a goal in the 45th after Mounziho scored on a penalty kick in the sixth, a foul which Young Azkals coach Stewart Hall later questioned during the postmatch press conference.
The Young Azkals conceded a goal with Jaimito Soares scoring in the 55th, but got it back thanks to Ouano, who plays college football with National University.
The Azkals U23 team gets a point in the opener.
“We think Timor Leste is a good team. They’ve been together three months. We’ve been together three weeks. They are fitter than us. They are sharper than us. They’ve got better match habits than we have, because they’ve been playing games. We haven’t,” said Hall.
“On a context of that and the fact that we went 1-0 down and 2-1 down, I think we showed great character to get back both times and get the draw. I’ll be interested to see the replay of the penalty because the penalty looked very soft from where I was. Very, very soft. I was very disappointed with the penalty,” said Hall.
The Philippines will face Cambodia on Thursday at the National Stadium. Cambodia beat Brunei, 6-0, on Monday.
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