Suzuki Cup: Philippines thump Timor-Leste 7-0 in Group A clash, Latest Football News - The New Paper
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Suzuki Cup: Philippines thump Timor-Leste 7-0 in Group A clash

The Philippines recorded the biggest victory so far at this Suzuki Cup on Saturday (Dec 11) with a 7-0 trouncing of Timor-Leste at the National Stadium.

The Group A encounter was watched by just 480 spectators and was the Azkals' first win of the tournament, with seven different players getting on the scoresheet.

Their campaign had gotten off to a losing start on Wednesday after a 2-1 loss to hosts Singapore while Timor-Leste were playing their third game of the tournament after going down 2-0 to both Thailand and Myanmar earlier.

The largest scoreline in the Asean Football Federation Championship's history remains Indonesia's 13-1 victory over the Philippines in 2002.

The Timorese made nine changes to the team that lost to Myanmar on Wednesday, with coach Fabio Maciel giving a run-out to his fringe players.

But the Philippines were ruthless as well, punishing their opponents with every chance that fell their way, scoring six goals in a 25-minute spell in the first half.

By half-time, the scoreboard read : Timor-Leste 0 Philippines 6.

The floodgates opened with Martin Steuble's long-range strike in the 21st minute. Amin Nazari then got his second goal of the tournament in the 31st.

Angel Guirado was next with a close-range header in the 35th minute. Patrick Reichelt and Jesper Nyholm then scored in the 40th and 45th minutes respectively to make it 5-0 before Bienvenido Maranon added the sixth in first-half added time.

With the game in the bag, the Philippines took their foot off the pedal in the second half. But they still managed to add to the scoreline with a Kevin Ingreso effort from inside the box in the 78th minute.

The victory puts the Azkals second in Group A with three points, behind Singapore, who have six. Thailand, who face Myanmar in the evening's later kick-off, are third with three points but behind on goal difference. Timor-Leste are bottom.

Azkals assistant coach Stewart Hall, said: "We have done our meetings about the things we didn't too well against Singapore and we spoke about how we didn't create enough chances. The players did that well tonight.

"I set the players three targets. First - win the game. Second - score goals because the qualification could come down to goal difference and third - get in front early because I wanted to make early substitutions with the Thailand match coming up. We are ready for Thailand."

He also confirmed that head coach Scott Cooper had arrived in Singapore and completed his quarantine. He will take charge of training on Sunday.

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