Azkals settle for 1-1 draw with Indonesia in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

THE PHILIPPINE Azkals failed to finish the job despite a one-goal headstart and settled for a 1-1 draw with Indonesia in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

In front of a roaring crowd of 9,880, the Azkals struck first through veteran Patrick Reichelt in the 23rd minute as they unleashed waves of attack in a bid to put the visitors to sleep.

But missed scoring chances outside of Mr. Reichelt’s goal and one moment of lousy defending in the 70th allowed Saddil Ramdani to sneak one past Neil Etheridge and make it all square.

Fatigued and all, the two sides went for the go-ahead but fell short, eventually sharing the spoils in the Group F match.

The Azkals were left to rue the home advantage wasted not just in this “winnable” game against the Merah Putih but also in the 0-2 loss to Vietnam Thursday that they felt should have been 1-1 if not for unconverted attempts.

“I can’t believe how after what we had invested in the last two games, we stood here with one point only. We should have four points, this was very clear for me 100 percent,” said coach Michael Weiss.

But having put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears, the Pinoy booters were proud of this two-game showing at home, where an average of 10,129 supporters came out.

“We’re upset that we sit here with a 1-1 draw. We can feel sorry for ourselves but I won’t apologize for the effort we’ve put in this camp and these games,” said Mr. Etheridge. “I thought we fought well, we defended for our lives.”

The Azkals have their work cut out in the next window as they play unbeaten leader Iraq (six points in two wins) back-to-back on March 21 in Iraq and five days later at Rizal. — Olmin Leyba