Philip Younghusband scored both the goals for the Philippines, strengthening its hope of moving into semifinal from group B. [break]
DPR Korea with six points has already secured semifinal spot and all the teams in the four team group has a match in hand. The winner of the match to be played between the Philippines and Tajikistan on Tuesday will enter into semifinals.
After playing two matches apiece, India hit the bottom of the table in group B remaining pointless and Korea occupies the top spot with six points. The Philippines and Tajikistan have three points each in their kitty.
Accepting that the standards of South Asian football was poor than other teams competing in the final rounds of the event, India coach Savio Medeira said, "We should improve the standard of football in the South Asian countries."
In Sunday´s match, India for the first time looked miserable in a football tournament organized in the South Asian region.
In fact, it seemed as if India never came into the game. The Philippines dominated the show from the beginning and kept India consistently under pressure.
The Philippines created about half a dozen scoring chances while India hardly created a couple of impressive moves.
In course of giving an early lead to the Philippines, Philip Younghusband unleashed a powerful shot from the area in the 10th minute stunning more than half a dozen of Indian players present in the area and the custodian Karanjit Singh.
Despite piling consistent pressure, the Philippines had to wait until 73rd minute to double the tally. Philip made a cool finishing in second bar from the area after playing one-to-one pass with his younger brother James Younghusband.
Philip also squandered two other scoring chances, when he hit wide in the 35th and 43rd minutes. In the 77th minute, Angel Guirando´s strike from the box was denied by Indian goalie Singh.
India´s first post attempt came as early as in the sixth minute. Reisangmi Vashum´s strike sailed above bar. Similarly, India skipper Sunil Chhetri squandered an opportunity to cut goal deficit in the 88th minute when he fired wide from close range in the pass of Sushil Kumar Singh.
Following his sides defeat, Indian coach Medeira said that Indian team was studded with young and inexperienced players who need a lot of time for team building. "Strikers could not do what was expected from them," Medeira said, adding that the absence of quality strikers posed a serious question-mark on the Indian football and the country´s football governing body should be serious about that.
The Philippines coach Hans Michael Weiss expressed happiness toward the results. "The performance in the second half was better than that of first and the goals scored were deserving. We will play for victory against Tajikistan in our next match and we have psychological advantage over them as they lost today while we won our match."
AFC Challenge Cup
Monday´s matches
Nepal Vs Turkmenistan
Venue: Dasharath Stadium @ 15:00 NST
Maldives Vs Palestine
Venue: Halchowk ground @ 15:000 NST
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