By: Gil Moriones
MANILA -- The Philippine Men's National Football Team U23 was the latest victim of the Thailand U23 squad, as the Young War Elephants unleashed their frustration and formally ended their ASEAN U23 Mandiri Cup tournament in third place for the second straight time after beating the Nationals, 3-1, in the third-place playoff match Monday night at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
Although the young Pinoy footers competed with the Thais in terms of ball possession and even managed to dominate with accurate passing, the Thais were still able to generate three goals from their 15 total shots in the game.
The first goal came in the 29th minute after a feed from Sitta Boonlha, who found Phanthamit Praphanith, allowing him to score uncontested and leaving Nicholas Guimaraes clueless on the play, 1-0.
Thailand aimed to double their lead in the 56th minute as Chaiyaphon Otton took a free kick and successfully located Pattarapon Suksakit, who tried to extend their lead with a header. However, the Nationals' custodian Guimaraes managed to tap it upward.
In the 73rd minute, Thailand extended their lead to a two-goal advantage.
Siraphop Wandee slotted the ball into the right side of the net, leaving defender Jaime Rosquillo and Guimaraes unable to react or stop it, 2-0.
In the 82nd minute, Otu Banatao gave the neophyte semifinalists a glimmer of hope for a comeback after receiving a feed from Gavin Muens. He headed the ball upward, beating the Thai keeper and reducing the Philippine deficit, 2-1.
But Seksan Ratree, who came off the bench in the 85th minute, put the nail in the coffin for Thailand to seal their second third-place finish.
Just one minute after his substitution, Ratree capitalized on a Thai counterattack following Banatao's near-equalizer attempt that hit the goalpost. The quick-reacting Thais advanced the ball, and Chaiyaphon Otton passed it to Ratree, who launched a shot that hit the woodwork and bounced into the net in the 86th minute, 3-1.
Indonesia will now attempt to secure their second title as they face Vietnam, who are aiming for a third Mandiri Cup championship, in the final on Tuesday night.
The tournament ended with Banatao scoring three goals, Javier Mariona netting two, and Harry Nunez contributing one.
Next on the Philippines’ agenda are the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers, where they will face Syria, Tajikistan, and Nepal. The top team in Group K, along with a possible best second-place team, will advance to the 2026 U23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. The qualifiers will take place from September 3 to 9.
After that, the youngsters will head to Bangkok for the 2025 Southeast Asian Games.
