The Philippines takes on Myanmar in men’s football on Wednesday bringing the momentum of a 1-1 draw the Azkals notched with Cambodia on Monday night.
The Philippines-Myanmar is set at 4 p.m. at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Myanmar will never be easy for the local side. The Myanmarese are the reigning gold medalist—they beat powerhouse Thailand in 2017 in Malaysia.
Myanmar also split its opening match with Malaysia, 1-1, on Monday.
The Philippines women’s team, meanwhile, debuts against Myanmar at 8 p.m. at the Biñan Stadium in Laguna. Cambodia and Timor Leste face in the 8 p.m.
Dennis Chung came off the bench to lift the Philippines to that face-saving draw against Cambodia.
With the hopes of the Junior Azkals fading away, Chung, who subbed for Dylan de Bruycker in the 88th minute, struck the tying goal in the 93rd minute, much to the delight and relief of the 2,980 hometown fans who witnessed the pulsating Group A match.
Veteran midfielder and skipper Stephan Schrock had a hand in that goal, feeding his fellow Fil-German, who saw a sliver of light as the Cambodian defense broke down to slot in the 10-yard equalizer.
Until then, it was the visitors who had the upper hand against their fancied hosts, with striker Keo Sukpheng scoring first blood in the 41st minute from the right wing past the sloppy Philippine defense.
Also sharing the Cambodian spotlight was goalie Keo Sorsela, who had his hands full in parrying the Junior Azkals’ repeated attacks with his brilliant saves, only to come to grief with just two minutes to go in injury time.
“I am speechless because this is absolutely amazing,” said Chung, whose mother hails from Camiguin, in being the savior of the embattled Nationals in the crunch in his SEA Games debut.
But the Philippine Serbian Coach Goran Milojevic, speaking through an interpreter, was more low-key about his player’s goal, quipping: “He [Chung] is a forward so he is supposed to score goals.”
“While I believe my boys were the better team, the Cambodians played extremely well,” added Milojevic at the post-match conference. “But they never gave up so I am proud how they recovered in the second half. Overall it was a good game for us.”
In a Group B match, Vietnam got off to a sizzling start by swamping Brunei, 6-0.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes, AP/Aaron Favila