Azkals tie Sri Lanka in away match with sparse crowd

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV The Philippine Azkals' match against Sri Lanka ended in a 1-1 draw in their 2014 World Cup Asia group playoffs Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka scored first with an indirect free kick. Azkal forward Nate Burkey headed in the tying goal in the second half. It was the Filipino-American's first match for the Azkals. "I'm not the happiest man in the world but I'm not too disappointed. We take the result as it is and prepare for the match on Sunday," said Azkals' German coach Michael Weiss. The match in Sugathadasa Stadium drew a sparse crowd, with many of the fans OFWs who flew in from Dubai and other Middle Eastern countries. Sri Lanka is mostly a cricket-playing nation. Sri Lanka drew first blood with Chathura Gunarathna's 43rd minute goal, while Azkals midfielder Nate Burkey leveled the count in the 49th minute. The lone, all-important goal introduced the recent addition Burkey to the Azkals fans. Burkey has been with the team for about a month and he does not have international experience. Unlike most of the half-Europeans in the team, Burkey is Fil-American. Gunarathna scored on an indirect free kick 25 yards from the goal with the ball bouncing off Robert Gier and then passing under the right arm of Azkals keeper Neil Etheridge. The Azkals tried to equalize after that goal but Sri Lanka keeper Manjula Fernando repeatedly foiled their attempts. With Phil Younghusband still recovering from injury, Weiss decided to replace the top striker with Burkey at the 40th minute of the first half. The younger Younghusband, who collided with a Sri Lankan player at midfield, had two near-goals before being pulled out. Sri Lanka's rough game disrupted the Azkals' plays as tempers flared midway in the first half with James Younghusband, Aly Borromeo and German-Filipino Stephan Schrock given yellow cards for various offenses. James Younghusband was booked by Bangladeshi referee Tayeb Shamsuzzaman for excessive complaining after his brother, Phil, went down and got injured. Shamsuzzaman also issued yellow cards to Sri Lanka's Anton Nimal Fernando, Safraz Kaiz and Nadeeka Pushpakumara The Nationals were aggressive at the start of the match and had several chances of scoring but Fernando kept standing in their way at the goal. After half-time, the Azkals kept their emotions in check and regained their composure. Burkey then came to the Azkals' rescue and leveled the match. He received a Chieffy Caligdong looping free kick and sent the ball into the goal with a header. Azkals keeper Neil Etheridge made up for allowing Gunarathna's goal by deflecting Sri Lanka's later attempts to add more goals, with one save a leaping block of the ball in the far left of the goal. Schrock was a powerful presence on the pitch for the Azkals as the 24-year-old defender brought out his second division Bundesliga skills against the surprisingly fast-moving Sri Lankans. One question now is whether Phil Younghusband will be fit to play the home match on July 3 at Rizal Stadium, which is expected to be filled to capacity. A victory at home would advance the Philippines into matches against the higher ranked Kuwait national team. Cambodia, Nepal, Mongolia and Palestine overcame their respective opponents in other qualifying matches. - Earl Victor Rosero/Jon Perez/OMG/HS, GMA News