AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifying Group Stage: Philippines-Azkals vs Palestine Fighters
The Philippine National Football team – Azkals will face Palestine Al-Fusan (The Fighters) Wednesday afternoon March 23, 2011 3:30PM MYA / 5PM PHI time for their second game of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifying Group Stage and still to be held at the Youth Training Centre in Myanmar .
FIFA’s latest world rankings showed the Palestine Al-Fusan in 178th place. Myanmar is 161th; followed by the Bangladesh Bengal Tigers at No. 174 and Philippines at 151st place.
The Azkals fought Myanmar to a 1-1 draw last Monday for their first game of the Group A Qualifying stage. Both secured a point each for the standing.
The Azkals will need to bag at least 4 more points to advance to the next phase of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012. They have to either win at least their last two remaining matches or win one match and draw the remaining other, depending on the results of the other games in the group.
UPDATE: Philippine Azkals and Palestine Al-Fusan Fighters ended in a scoreless draw.
The Azkals now has 2 straight draws in the group stage with 2 points and are now ranked 3rd in their group bracket composed of 4 countries, namely: Philippines, Palestine, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Palestine Fighters currently leads the pack with 1 win and 1 draw for a total of 4 points.
The Azkals play Bangladesh on Friday which needs a victory to at least gain five points to give them a clear shot to qualify to the main tournament next year.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palestine | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Philippines | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Myanmar | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |
No Responses