Myanmar douses RP, 6-2

THE Philippine Men's football team suffered a 2-6 loss Tuesday night to Myanmar in the Pre-Southeast Asian Games tournament's opening match in Bangkok, Thailand.

Still, national coach Aries Caslib says the final outcome doesn't show the changes the team has made.

The team trailed, 0-3, going into the second half before substitutes Ian Araneta and Emilio Caligdong scored in the 57th and 77th minutes. Then Myanmar, which owns the Seag record of five straight football titles, scored two more goals.

The Philippines was playing Malaysia at press time and will close its campaign against newcomer Timor Leste tomorrow.

In the Tiger Cup last year, Myanmar scored in injury time for a 1-0 win, while Malaysia defeated the Philippines, 3-1, before the Filipinos won their first match against Timor Leste, 2-1.

In a post on philfootball.info, a forum for Pinoy football fans, Caslib reported the positive signs during the match.

"The players wanted to win and they have shown superb character by scoring two goals in the second half, producing momentum and control. But the handling of such situations must be improved further. The players are not afraid to take risks all the time," Caslib said.

"We had a very strong chance to recover in the second half as we got goals in the 57th and 77th minutes of the match. Our third goal was to come but we lost a very good chance from a two-on-one situation."

Cebuano Oliver Colina and former Carmen boy Arnie Pasinabo are with the team, which will depart for a one-month training in China after the Thailand tournament.

Fil-foreigners James and Philip Younghusband of the Chelsea FC reserve team are not with the squad, as well as Ali Borromeo and Pasinabo's teammate in Carmen, Michael Casas.

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