Members of the Philippine Azkals men’s national football team were not in great shape when they absorbed a 2-3 loss to Chinese Taipei in a rain-drenched friendly on Monday evening at the Rizal Memorial Complex.
The Taiwanese took advantage of this and found their scoring opportunities in the final minute of the match, just minutes after the rain subsided.
Ming-Wei Lin scored the go-ahead goal for the Taiwanese in the dying seconds of the match.
He followed up on a deflection by goalkeeper Niel Etheridge in the final minute to score the winning goal.
The score was earlier tied at 2-all when Yu Yao Hsing intercepted a pass by Enrique Linares inside the box on the 58th minute.
“I think in the first half, we were very much in the game. A little luck here and there. We had a 2-1 lead with morale and spirit. But in the second half, morale and spirit could not surpass situations if you don’t have the basics, like what many players had,” said Weiss, referring to the questionable game shape of his players during the game.
Taiwan’s win came a few days after the Azkals turned back Nepal, 1-0, in their first friendly under coach Hans Michael Weiss.
The Azkals led at halftime, 2-1, when Patrick Reichelt flicked in a volley in the 39th minute.
Taiwan coach Gary White said they were aware of the Azkals’ situation and waited patiently for the right moment before pulling off their final attack.
“It was raining, there was lightning. It was a very fast game, end to end. I think we came out the deserving winners today. The players never gave up. We knew at halftime that it was going to be difficult for the Philippines to stay with us. So, we waited, and we were patient,” said White.