The Philippines came out to silence any doubters at the Rizal Memorial Stadium and with a brace
from Phil Younghusband, a goal from his brother James and a first international goal for fellow Filipino-British Matthew Hartmann the Azkals went on dominate Nepal 4-0. The Younghusband brothers particularly were the driving force behind the team as they beat a Nepal side who have been rather erratic in their performances this year.
Phil Younghusband opened the scoring when he was played through on the 17th minute to slot past Kiran Kumar Limbu in the Nepalese goal. At the half-hour mark his brother James got in on the action in the 30th by shooting from just outside the area into the top corner to double the Azkals' lead at halftime.
Phil Younghusband, receiving a pass from a Dennis Cagara corner, doubled his tally in the second half before Matthew Hartmann capped off an outstanding display with his first international goal.
First half
Despite facing a team ranked 31 places above them in Nepal (135), the Philippines (166) pressured the Nepalese keeper, who spilled crosses twice, early on.
Chieffy Caligdong uncharacteristically missed an easy scoring opportunity firing over with the goalkeeper sprawled on the ground. That didn't matter too much though as Phil Younghusband put the Philippines in front when he was set through on goal. At first it seemed he had taken the ball too wide but the goalkeeper kept moving and was very poorly positioned allowing the new Loyola Meralco Sparks forward to slot past the keeper's outstretched foot.
James Younghusband then added a second in the 28th minute as he picked up the ball on the edge of the area, shimmied past his defender and fired into the top corner.
Ian Araneta had a chance to make it 3-0 as Caligdong's low cross evaded the Nepalese defense but the Air Force striker couldn't quite get on the end of it with his slide.
Second half
Coach Michael Weiss, seeing that the Philippines dominated the first half, decided to bring in Nate Burkey to replace Araneta. But it was Phil Younghusband who again scored the next goal 10 minutes into the half.
Cagara fired in from a corner, which the striker controlled before putting the ball past the diving Limbu in the 55th minute.
Three goals up the Azkals didn't stop pressing the higher-ranked side and collectively began showing the quality we have seen glimpses of in previous games.
Nepal only threatened once in the second half, forcing Neil Etheridge into a tipped save in the 61st minute and Phil Younghusband almost had a hat-trick when he burst through on the right wing seven minutes later but his shot attempt was wide.
Jerry Lucena was then stretchered off shortly after and replaced by Hartmann, Chieffy Caligdong was rested giving Misagh Bahadoran a chance to show his skill before Jason De Jong came in for Lexton Moy.
Immediately Bahadoran made an impact, breaking on the left and cutting inside to shoot into the far corner, forcing Limbu in goal into a fine acrobatic fingertip save, though it was Hartmann who scored the fourth when Cagara burst through down the left wing, passed inside to Phil Younghusband who teed it up for the substitute to fire with pin-point precision into the top corner to score his first goal for the Philippines.
The dominating victory caps a grueling recent schedule for the Azkals, who bounced back from their 2-0 loss to Singapore in another friendly match.
After the game, Nepal's English coach Graham Roberts refused to make any excuses. "I've never been ashamed of my team before but I was ashamed at the first half."
Roberts said his team was "absolutely abysmal" as Nepal have not played competitively for three months.
He praised the Azkals' performance and even singled out Phil Younghusband as the difference, noting that his defenders are very good players but the Loyola Agila forward simply "tore them apart."
Phil Younghusband dedicated his performance to his mother, who died last month. Humble in the press conference, he commended his teammates who supplied him with the passes that allowed him to score twice and lead the Philippines to a one-sided victory.
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