Little Azkals chalk up a win in Malaysia

THE PHILIPPINE Under -13 tagged the Little Azkals managed one win,  two draws and three losses so far as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U13 Festival of Football in Malaysia paused for a skills test yesterday.

During the first day of the festival last Thursday, the Little Azkals fought Laos to a scoreless draw and powerhouse team Indonesia to a 2-all draw before bowing to Singapore, 1-2.

The Friday matches did not start so well for the Little Azkals as they suffered a 0-3 loss against Vietnam and an 0-4 loss against Thailand. However, they made up for it by blanking Cambodia, 3-0.

Head coach Oliver Colina said that the team has been inconsistent, which is why they won some and lost some against strong teams and bigger players.

“We just play hard and our playing sometimes is not consistent. Some of the kids are also intimidated with the sizes of the different teams. Their U13 players here are taller,” Colina said.

Despite this, the team has taken the notice of the coach from Indonesia, who had said that the Philippine team is strong.

He added that the advantage of the teams who have won against them is their understanding of the game. The second format of the tournament will start today./CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON