The Philippine Azkals bid in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup took off in a scoreless draw against the formidable Afghanistan in Group B, Tuesday night at Hithadhoo Stadium in Maldives.

Up against the formidable Afghanistan lineup, who won the South Asian Football Federation 2013 championship against India, the Philippines, which finished third place in the 2012 edition of the AFC Challenge Cup in Nepal, started slow and yielded the first corner’s kick of the match to Afghanistan.

With new coach Thomas Dooley, the Azkals started with Neil Etheridge as goal keeper, Juani Guirado, Patrick Reichelt, Ruben Doctora, James Younghusband, Stephan Schrock, Jerry Lucena, Chris Greatwich, Martin Steuble, Sato Daisuke, and Simone Rota.

Reports posted on the AFC Challenge Cup website said Younghusband almost scored for the Philippines in first half stoppage time but his header hit the crossbar.

After a tentative start, the Azkals picked up the pace in the second half to keep Afghanistan goalkeeper Mansur Faqiryar busy but the SAFF championship MVP stood his ground and denied the Philippines the opportunity to score.

In the AFC report, Azkals coach Dooley pointed out that the first match in any tournament is the most important and he did not find exciting their match against Afghanistan.

The Philippines will face Laos today, 6:30 p.m. (Phil. time), in their second match in Group B and against Turkmenistan on Saturday. Earlier, Turkmenistan beat Laos, 5-1, to lead the group with 3 points, while Philippines and Afghanistan had 1 point each.

In Group A, Palestine registered 6 points after beating Kyrgyzstan, 1-0, in their first match, and Palestine, 2-0, in their second assignment.

Myanmar is at No. 2 with 3 points after defeating host Maldives, 3-2.*NAB

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