PH Azkals suffer semifinal exit

Phil Younghusband admitted that things are needed to be changed for the Philippine Azkals after another semifinal exit in the AFF Suzuki Cup with a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Vietnam on Thursday in Hanoi.

Hopes of producing a sequel of the “Miracle in Hanoi” from eight years ago disappeared after Vietnam scored two goals courtesy of Nguyen Quan Hai and Nguyen Cong Phuong to confirm another disappointing setback for the Azkals in Southeast Asia’s biggest football competition.

“Some things need to get better,” Younghusband said, without elaborating.

One of the things that marred the Azkals’ campaign was the departures of key players during the course of the competition.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge resumed his English Premier League stint with Cardiff City manning the sticks in the group stage opener against Singapore while left back Daisuke Sato and midfielder Patrick Strauss returned to club duties in Europe before the semifinals.

Goals were lacking for the Azkals since the tournament began, producing just seven including James Younghusband’s consolation late in Thursday’ssecond leg.

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