PH falls to Thailand in King's Cup opener

The Philippine Men's National Football Team fell to host Thailand, 3-1, in their opening game in the King's Cup tournament at the Tinsulanon Stadium in Thailand on Friday.

It was a rainy night in Songkhla as the match was temporarily stopped at the 25th minute. After almost an hour, the match resumed but both teams finished the first half goalless.

Chanatip Songkrasin made the first goal for Thailand at the 53' mark before Bjorn Kristensen equalized the match as he made his first goal for the Philippines ten minutes after.

Suphanat Mueanta then reclaimed the lead for the Thailand, 2-1, after just five minutes.

The Philippines was dealt with another challenge as Amani Aguinaldo was given a red card at the 74th minute after a VAR check.

Suphanat then sealed the victory for the Thais with another goal at the 87th minute.

“I think we played a good first 20 minutes. The game was very equal, we had our chances, but so did Thailand,” head coach Albert Capellas said. “After the rain it was a completely different game, one that had nothing to do with what we trained and from what we expected from a top game like this.”

The Philippines will play Tajikistan next in the battle for third on Monday.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News