PHL Azkals seize 3rd place in AFC Challenge Cup with 4-3 win vs. Palestine

Coming from a second-half breakdown in a semifinals defeat to Turkmenistan, the Philippines' men's national football team edged Palestine 4-3 to end their campaign in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup in 3rd place.  Phil Younghusband and the Guirado brothers—Angel and Juan Luis—scored the four goals that sealed the Azkals' win, which in combination with earlier victories against India and Tajikistan, could boost the country's FIFA World Ranking. The Azkals' 3rd place finish was the Philippines' best finish yet in a major tournament. The AFC Challenge Cup is a competition for Asia's "emerging" football nations, or the 17 that rank the lowest, and takes place every two years. Occasionally, an Asian powerhouse like North Korea will join the Challenge Cup. North Korea will play Turkmenistan for the championship. The Philippines lost to them both in the tournament. PHL's FIFA ranking computation The ranking prognosis tool on the FIFA website computes that the Philippines could net 46 additional points from its three wins in Kathmandu and rise from 136 to 182 points when the next table is issued on April 11. The exact ranking would depend on how the other countries perform. First half Younghusband started the scoring off an Angel Guirado pass 3 minutes into the match. Abdelhamid Abuhabib equalized for Palestine in the 20th minute.   The deadlock only lasted four minutes after Younghusband converted a penalty kick from a hard tackle by Ahmed Harbi on Chieffy Caligdong.   Juan Luis Guirado almost scored the Philippines' 3rd goal in the 33rd minute from a free kick by Younghusband, but the defender's brother Angel finished the job and put the team up 3-1 after beating keeper Ramzi Saleh up close 3 minutes before the half's end. Second half   The Azkals played slower at the start of the second half, until Abuhabib cut the Azkals' lead in the 66th minute.   Angel Guirado, on the other hand, found his brother charging toward the box and helped set up his first goal for the flag two minutes later.   But Palestine would not settle for 4-2, as Fahed Attal closed the gap again in the 77th minute.   Abuhabib nearly finished a hat trick in the 81st minute, but Sacapaño blocked the shot aimed at the goal's upper left corner. Sacapaño replaces red-carded Etheridge   Eduard Sacapaño saw international action again after starting keeper Neil Etheridge got a red card in their match against Turkmenistan.   Albeit shorter, the Philippine Army keeper made crucial saves, including a hat-trick denial of Abuhabib minutes before the final whistle. In the 65th minute, he cleared the ball himself after punching it outside the box. "Sacapaño has been with us at the training camps in the build-up to the Challenge Cup and has done well... He has been learning a lot from Neil and from another Germany-based keeper Roland Muller," coach Michael Weiss said of the substitute keeper hours before the match, according to the AFC on its website.   The younger Guirado and James Younghusband also returned after their suspensions due to yellow card accumulation.   Although Weiss eyed a finals ticket for the Azkals, the team's finish is still its best in the Challenge Cup. "Overall I think we deserved to finish third and I thank my players for their never-say-die attitude… I also want to take the opportunity to thank all our fans in the Philippines, in the Gulf, in Europe and all over the world who have supported us. Without them, what we have achieved would not have been possible,” Weiss said in the post-match news conference which was reported by the AFC.   Contesting the top spot and an Asian Cup ticket Monday night are North Korea and Turkmenistan   The Challenge Cup is the premier football tournament for emerging Asian countries. The AFC groups its 46 member countries into developed, developing and emerging nations.   The top fifteen countries are classed as developed, the next 14 as developing and the remaining 17 as emerging nations though some countries from the developing section and North Korea from the developed section also participate. — ELR/HS, GMA News