By: Gil Moriones
MANILA --- The debut of the under-23 squad of the Philippine Men's National Football Team turned into a devastating Group C opener as they suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat against the 2022 Asiad bronze medalists, Uzbekistan, at the CS Asset Minato Soccer Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, Tuesday afternoon.
The 2024 Paris Olympics debutants scored the opener after 30 minutes, capitalizing on defensive lapses by the Filipinos, thanks to Urinboev Muhammdali’s header from a feed.
Sandro Reyes carried the Philippines so far, making three shot attempts that all went wide in the first half.
The referee gave marching orders to Gavin Muens after he pulled down Karimov to stop a possible counterattack by the Uzbeks, leaving the debutants down to 10 men.
Saidnurullayev Saidumarkhon easily scored for the Uzbeks in the 60th minute to extend their advantage to 2-0 - that goal was a production in their counterattack after John Lucero's solid strike only went hit the crossbar.
But the Philippines found a glimpse of hope when Martin Merino scored his first international goal after an Uzbek defender mistakenly ricocheted the ball onto his legs while trying to deflect Antoine Ortega’s header from a long throw, cutting the deficit to a single goal in the 62nd minute.
Then, the storm from the former champions of the AFC U23 Asian Cup in China (2022) finally demolished the Philippine defense with three crucial goals within ten minutes starting from the 71st minute.
The goals came from Saidmurkhon (his second of the game), Fayzullaev Ruziboy, and Reimov Mukhammedali.
The PMNFT U23 will next face the 2025 SEA Games gold medalists and ASEAN U23 Championship winners, Vietnam, on September 18.
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