BOCAUE, Philippines — The Philippines did all it could to keep defending champion Thailand at bay, but a late goal gave the War Elephants a clean sweep of its Group A assignments after the final day of the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup group stage at the Philippine Sports Stadium.
Indonesia, on the other hand, hung tough against the Singapore XI to pull off a rousing 2-1 come from behind win over at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. The results meant that Indonesia, seen as one of the tournament’s dark horses, scraped through to the semifinal round.
In the first half, the Azkals dominated the possessions, but failed to score on their chances, especially with one of their shots from Stephan Schrock hitting the far post midway through the first half.
Sarawat Masuk, who was part of the unusual lineup fielded by Coach Senamuang “Zico” Kiatisuk, sprung free from the defense and slotted in the close range shot past Roland Muller to settle the result in the 81st minute.
This was the first time that the Philippines failed to advance past the group stage since 2007. Also, Thailand has never been beaten by the Azkals since the tournament’s inception in 1996. Diego de la Paz / Eagle News Service
