Askals play Thais on Seag opener


THE Philippine men's football team, christened "Askals" by the fans, will face defending champion Thailand in its first game in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (Seag) on Nov. 23 at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.

In the two countries last match in the 2004 Tiger Cup, the Philippines took a 1-0 lead before Thailand recovered to win 3-1. Emilio Caligdong scored the lone goal for the Philippines.

However it is a different story in the Seag as the biennial meet is limited to 23-year-olds while the Tiger Cup had no age limit.

The Philippines is grouped together with Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. They will play Cambodia on Nov. 25 and close out its elimination round against Malaysia on Nov. 29.

"We will be hoping for a draw against Malaysia and Thailand and a win against Cambodia," Philippine Football Federation president Johnny Romualdez said.

Also in the Tiger Cup, the Philippines lost to Malaysia 1-2, to Myanmar, 0-1 and defeated Timor Leste, 2-1. In the pre-seag event last September, the Philippines again lost to Malaysia 1-2, to Myanmar 2-6 and defeated Timor Leste 4-1.

However, Timor Leste and Brunei has dropped out of the Seag this year.
The team will also be beefed up by Fil foreigners; brothers Philipp and James Younghusband of Chelsea FC, Chris and Paul Greatwitch also of England and Chad Gould are expected to join the team this week.

Meanwhile, the women's team will have a tougher grind as they have to face the rest of the four teams in the competition and hope for a second place finish to have a shot at gold.

The ladies will play title holder Thailand on Nov. 24, Indonesia on Nov. 26, Vietnam on Nov. 28 and Myanmar on Nov. 30.

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