Uzbeks Crashes Azkals, 5-1

2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier: 2015 AFC Asian Qualifier

Philippine national men’s football team Azkals received a crashing 5-1 loss against Uzbekistan yesterday, September 8, at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan, dropping their standing to third in Group H of the World Cup Qualifiers.

The Philippine team were looking at a “bad start” since it took only below 50 seconds for Uzbeks’ midfielder Captain Odil Akhmedov to make the first goal and predict the unfortunate result of the match earlier than expected.

Two other shots escaped towering Azkals goalie Neil Etheridge to make additional goals coming from midfielder Sardor Rashidov and forward Igor Sergeev to establish a 3-0 advantage by halftime in the 43rd minute. Rashidov scored in the 14th minute while Sergeev fired one at the corner at the 65th minute.

Substitutions continued with the Azkals team and all left was Fil-German midfielder Stephan Schrock replacing Sydney-born Iain Ramsay. Schrock shone a ray of light for the Azkals with a successful free kick. Uzbeks goalie Alexander Lobanov failed to block Schrock’s high-looping goal for the Philippine Azkals’ only score of the night at the 65th minute.

Uzbeks’ Rashidov counter-attacked at the 80th minute with his curled ball at the back to finally command the end of the Group H match win 5-1 against the Philippines.
The loss dropped Philippines in the third place; Uzbekistan at the leading position in Group H of World Cup Qualifiers having 9 points with their 1-1, with a win over Yemen and a loss to North Korea. The Azkals’ winning streak was against Bahrain and Yemen, 2-1 and 2-0, respectively. To continue the qualifying match, the Philippine Azkals will have to face DPR Korea on October 8 in Pyongyang. A win would tie their position with North Korea.


Coach Thomas Dooley expressed his dismay saying, “From the first kick, we started in the wrong direction. After that first goal, that first minute, everything that we tried to do was gone". You may say that the Philippines were aiming too high for its dreams and unfortunately, this was a clear indication that the rankings between the two teams is as far as they are geographically. The Philippines is ranked at 125th while Uzbekistan is at 76th; both competing in Group H but Uzbeks is the highest ranked since North Korea at 126th, Bahrain at 112th, and Yemen at 175^th. Some critics dub Group H as Group Death because of the intense action-packed games the teams showed every each match than surely “kill”, if not injure one another.