Bocaue, Bulacan (CNN Philippines) — The Philippines opened its World Cup Qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win against Bahrain at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan on Thursday (June 11).
In an uneventful first half, the two sides struggled to find a rhythm and impose themselves in the game.
The most significant event was an unfortunate injury to Stephan Schrock that forced him to hobble off the field to be replaced by Misagh Bahadoran.
After the second half whistle, the Filipinos emerged as the more urgent side.
The hard work finally paid off for the Azkals in the 50th minute after Phil Younghusband whipped in a cross for Bahadoran to finish and send the Philippine supporters into raptures.
Buoyed by the goal, the Azkals took control of the match and poured pressure on the Bahrain defense.
Tempers flared after a hard foul on Iain Ramsay, which saw the two sides separated by the referee.
Manny Ott took the resulting free kick that the opposing goalkeeper failed to deal with.
The ball scrambled in the box as Javier Patino finally got the decisive touch to put the Philippines up 2-0 in the 60th minute.
Bahrain eventually quelled the Filipino fire and held them back to fashion a few half-chances of their own in the second half.
With the result beyond doubt, the visitors pulled one back in the last minute of injury time through Abdulwahab Almalood to end the game at 2-1.
The Philippines will next face Yemen in Qatar in the next fixture of the World Cup Qualifiers on Tuesday (June 16).
