Azkals held to scoreless draw by gritty Palestine

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV The Philippine Azkals failed to penetrate the Palestinian defense and were held to a scoreless draw in their second Group A match in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup on Wednesday at the Thuwana Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. With the draw, the Azkals need to win against Bangladesh on Friday in order to advance to the quarterfinals stage of the AFC Challenge Cup. The top two teams in the each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals. "I was informed that we were held to a scoreless draw. No excuses. We need to win on Friday," said Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano "Nonong" Araneta on the Azkals' next game against the lower-rated Bangladesh side. The Philippines is at 151st place in the FIFA world rankings, 25 places higher than Bangladesh (174). Palestine occupies 178th spot with Eritrea and the Solomon Islands. But Araneta said the relative differences in the FIFA world rankings do not guarantee a win. "Remember, in the Suzuki Cup we defeated Vietnam (134), a team which has a much higher ranking than us." There were unconfirmed reports that Filipino-foreign players Neil Etheridge and Angel Aldeguer Guirado are not exactly in 100-percent shape. The Azkals have already lost popular striker Phil Younghusband, who suffered a grade-two tear in his right hamstring. Local stars Chieffy Caligdong and Ian Araneta teamed up with James Younghusband as they tried to pick up the offensive load for the Azkals, but Palestine keeper Abdullah M. M. Alsdidawi foiled their numerous attempts. The Azkals were held to a 1-1 draw by Myanmar (161) in their first match on Monday. – JVP, RCJ, KY, GMA News