Muzangs bow out of AFF Futsal Championship

Jaelle Nevin Reyes

MANILA, Philippines - The Muzangs were eliminated from contention in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship after being defeated consecutively by Thailand and Vietnam at the Malawati Stadium in Malaysia.

Coming out of a 4-4 draw against Laos on opening day, the Philippine national futsal team incurred their first defeat in the tournament after being devoured by powerhouse team Thailand, 1-16 on Saturday, September 20.

The Thais are seeded as the world’s number 17 while the Filipinos hold the 92nd spot in the world rankings.

Despite being pounded by the offensive blitz of their foes, the Muzangs exposed a gap in Thailand’s defense in the first half and notched a solitary goal through the efforts of Robert Cañedo.

Meanwhile, proving their might over the lower ranked Philippine team, the Thai side exploded with a 16-goal landslide as proof of their dominant offense coming out of the gates.

To make matters worse for the Muzangs, another loss was tucked under their belts a day after through the hands of world number 47 Vietnam, who beat them 1-11 on Sunday, September 21.

The formidable defense of the national futsal booters of the Philippines held off their rivals to just two goals going into the half preventing an early outburst from the Vietnamese side.

Consequently, nine more goals were tallied for the Golden Stars in the second half to cap off their 11-goal outing in the third day of the group stage of the competition.

United Football League standout and Green Archers United FC player Jovanie Simpron served as the country’s silver lining in the match after bagging the Muzangs only goal in the dying minutes of the final half.

As a result of the two consecutive losses, the Muzangs have officially bowed out of the title contention for the AFF Futsal Championship.

According to Muzangs head coach Red Avelino, they learned a lot from their experience playing with a top quality futsal club.

“This is the first time the Philippines actually played Thailand man to man. We had so many excellent moments during the game matching them one on one. These are World Cup players we were playing against, and we discovered our player's abilities, both strengths and weaknesses. We learned a lot from that experience,” he said.

Avelino added, “Vietnam beat us physically, they consistently applied high pressure, and all of them had excellent conditioning, they were like robots. We matched their speed and endurance, we just ran out of gas. They kept the pace and intensity high from start to finish. Vietnam's physical endurance and conditioning beat us. They capitalized on that split second where our players couldn’t catch up.”

The Muzang will play their final game in the tournament Tuesday, September 23 against Myanmar still at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam, Malaysia to cap off their crusade in the regional futsal meet. - Rappler.com

AFF Futsal : Philippines 1-11 Vietnam , Philippines 2-20 Myanmar

In the second match of the day, Vietnam defeated the Philippines 11-1 to pick up their second successive win in Group B.

For the first ten minutes of the match, Vietnam found it tough against the Philippines who were quick to cut them off. But then PhungTrong Luan weaved his way through the middle and slammed Vietnam ahead in the tenth minute. Four minutes later, Tran Thai Huy knocked in their second to give Vietnam a two-goal lead at the break.

Vietnam exploded in the second half, netting another nine goals. The goalscorers were Trong Luan (22^nd), Pham ThanhDat (25^th), Tran Long Vu (26^th), Pham DucHoa (27^th, 28^th, 36^th, 39^th), Le Quoc Nam (32^nd). There was an goal from Robert OmbleroCanedo in the 34^th minute.  In the last minute, JovanieSaludaresSimpron converted a penalty for the Philippines.

After today’s matches, Thailand and Vietnam both have six points each. The Thais however remain top of Group B due to a better goal average. Myanmar are third with Laos and the Philippines in fourth and fifth positions.

aseanfootbal.org

Tuesday : Myanmar 20-2 Philippines !

AFF FUTSAL: Thais reel in 16 goals

SHAH ALAM (20 Sept 2014) – Defending champions Thailand and Australia, runners-up in the last AFF Futsal Championship, proved they were the teams for all to look out for after both recorded convincing opening victories this morning. Thailand out-played the Philippines 16-1 while Australia whipped Timor Leste 9-0 at the Malawati Stadium here on the second day of the AFF Futsal Championship.

JetsadaChudech emerged the topscorer today with four goals while WanlopPansomsua blasted a hattrick in Thailand’s lop-sided win. Australia’s Jordan Aaron Guerreiro struck the first hattrick of the tournament in the earlier match against Timor Leste.

Thailand, the favourites to win here despite missing several key players that featured in the World Cup Futsal, stormed to a 7-1 lead at the halftime. They struck four goals in the first ten minutes through PiyapanRatana (2^nd), AtiratSittisak (3^rd), KittipongSonsuwan (5^th) and WanlopPansomsua (7^th).

The Thais added three more from Atirat (11^th), JetsadaChudech (19^th) and SorsakPoonjangreed (20^th) before heading to the locker rooms. The Philippines squeezed one in through Robert OmbleroCaneda in the seventh minute.

When the second half started, it was obvious that Thailand were not satisfied with the comfortable first-half lead and wanted much more. By the end of the next 20 minutes, Thailand reeled in another nine goals. The Philippines tried their best but the Thais were simply too good today.

The second half goals were netted by Wanlop( 24^th, 26^th), Jetsada (29^th, 38^th, 40^th), Konghla Lakka (30^th), Sorasak (34^th), KawinWiboonratchakit (37^th) and PinayatNusaya (38^th).

The victory was Thailand’s first in Group B while it was the Philippines first loss after they shared points with Laos yesterday.

aseanfootball.org

Muzangs draw with Laos in AFF Futsal Championship

Jaelle Nevin Reyes

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine national futsal team held Laos to a 4-4 draw to kick-off their crusade in the 2014 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship in Malawati Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia on Friday, September 19.

The Filipinos went on the offensive from the start of the opening half as Michael Reyes scored first blood four minutes into the game to take the lead for the Philippines.

A few minutes after, Vilakone Vannavong managed to hit an equalizer to tie the game at 1-1 in the 6th minute.

In the 12th minute, a counter attack from the Muzangs exposed a flaw in the defense of Laos giving Patrick Bocobo space to stike and notch the second goal of for the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the booters from Laos answered with two consecutive shots that found the back of the net courtesy of Soulichanh Phasawaeng and Panida Sinthapaseuth. Laos took the lead, 3-2.

As the hasty game continued, a counter attack from the Philippine side resulted in a goal, this time by team captain Floriano Pasilan but Laos did not back down as Soulichanh struck another ball to take the edge for his home squad.

Consequently, a penalty kick was awarded to the Muzangs in the dying minutes of the game. Jake Morallo converted it into a point and tied the game at 4-4 to prevent their foes from bringing home a win.

“We had so many chances that were actually harder to miss than to score. Unfortunately, we were not able to convert and had to settle for a draw. The goals we let in were giveaways from minor lapses in judgment. We dominated the whole time. That win slipped from our grasps,” head coach Red Avelino said in an interview with Rappler.

The teams of Laos and the Philippines are housed in Group B, the group that also features Asian powerhouse futsal teams Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.

Avelino stressed that their two next games will be hard fought as they are scheduled to play against Thailand and Vietnam.

“The next two games are actually the toughest. Its both fortunate and unfortunate to play a team like Thailand and Vietnam. [It’s] unfortunate because we happen to be grouped with the top 2 teams of the tournament and fortunate because we get the chance to play teams of their caliber. We have so much to learn from the experience alone.”

“How do we plan to play them? Same way we always do, we play our best and play with full hearts,” Avelino said.

The Muzangs will continue on their journey at the AFF futsal championship with a game against top seed Thailand on Saturday, September 20 still at the Malawati Stadium in Malaysia. - Rappler.com

ASEAN Futsal Championship 2014

AFF Futsal Championship 2014 in  Shah Alam , Malaysia

Group  A : Australia , Indonesia , Malaysia, Timor Leste and Brunei

Group B : Thailand , Vietnam , Myanmar , PHILIPPINES and Laos.

Philippines matches :

19. September vs Laos
20. September vs Thailand
21. September vs Vietnam
23. September vs Myanmar

Complete schedule : http://www.aseanfootball.org/v2/?page_id=16831