Myanmar dominated offensively in the first half, but the Azkals’ defense stayed solid throughout the match held at the Hien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh.
Philippine coach Simon McMenemy’s squad, however, was dangerous after the half-time break, with at least 3 scoring attempts rattling the uprights and the crossbar.
The Myanmar goalkeeper was also kept busy by long-range strikes.
The Myanmar players were aggressive in the first half, but gradually lost steam.
Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Jerril Santos has an exhilarating account of the PHL-Vietnam football game last Sunday in his Facebook wall. He has granted me permission to use it here.
He first wrote in his wall: “PHL-2, VN-0! great game! The local support for the defending champion,Vietnamese team, was just amazing but the Philippine team’s performance induced My Dinh Stadium into a stunned silence. What an achievement!”
Jerril related how it was to be in “enemy” territory:
“The few Pinoys in the stadium – three of us in the grandstand area we were in – couldn’t cheer as much as we wanted. It would be foolish to do that in a sea of 40,000 fans who were lustily cheering their team…cheering that turned to anger and frustration at their team’s inability to beat an underdog Philippines.”