A friendly match against hastily formed UFL All-Star team turned out to be a cold reality check for the Philippine Azkals.
An injury-time goal by Sudanese striker Izo El-Habbib lifted the All-Stars to a thrilling 4-3 upset over the Azkals on Sunday night in a friendly match played before a crowd of 10,000 at the University of Makati pitch.
The Azkals, after taking the lead through Chieffy Caligdong’s 10th minute opener, needed to muster two equalizing goals until El-Habbib, who plays for Global Smartmatic, struck a thunderous shot from a tight angle to break the nationals’ hearts.
Eric Dagroh, Kaya Cignal’s Ivorian striker, scored twice and Mark Hartmann, the prolific Fil-British attacker for the Loyola Meralco Sparks, added another goal for the UFL All-Stars, who thoroughly exposed gaps on the Azkals defense.
“I’m a little disappointed,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss. “Its an indication that we have to improve. We lost a match that we shouldn’t have lost.”
The Azkals are preparing for the 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifying first-round home-and-away against Sri Lanka on June 29 and July 3.
Read more at Philippine Daily Inquirer
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