Philippines booters not afraid of Thais

MANILA, Philippines — Thailand stands in the way but gritty Philippines doesn’t shiver at the thought of dealing with its multi-titled rival in its quest for a maiden trip to the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup finals.

After posting a fighting 1-1 draw with Vietnam and semifinal-clinching 1-0 verdict over Indonesia in pool play, the Filipinos feel they could give the defending champion Thais a run for their money in their two-legged semis duel.

“We’re not afraid of anybody anymore,” said midfielder Alex Monis.

“Thailand’s a great team and we got a lot of respect for them. But we showed that we can perform against Vietnam and Indonesia who are very good sides so we’re going into this match confident that we can compete.”

The semis duel, which rolls Friday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila and culminates Monday at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, features the winningest team against one of the latecomers to the fray.

Thailand has won the biennial meet a total of seven times, including four in the last five editions. The Philippines burst into contention 14 years ago with the famous “Miracle of Hanoi” feat. After that breakthrough semis stint in 2010, the Filipinos qualified for the semis three more times (2012, 2014 and 2018) but failed to get past the group stage in the last two editions (2020 and 2022).

Records show the Philippines has not defeated Thailand since 1971 and 1972 when it won their first three matchups.