RP booters draw with Laos in WC qualifier

Laos pounced on a costly second-half lapse by the Philippines to salvage a 1-1 draw in their Asian Group I World Cup qualifying match at the Philsports football field in Pasig City Saturday night.

After dominating the attack for 79 minutes, the Filipino booters saw victory slip through their grasp when their backline broke down, allowing the Laotians to score the equalizer in the 80th minute.

Nisavong Khounpachansy took a short cross pass and struck from 10 yards on the right wing, heading the ball through a yawning gap between two Filipino defenders and off-positioned goalie Elmer Mercado for the tying goal.

The Filipinos finished last in the World Cup qualifying series with five losses and a draw while Laos was third with four losses, a win and one draw.

The match completed group play but neither team had a chance of advancing to the final qualifyng round for the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.

"Although we dominated most of the first half, I felt that our boys were tired in the second half so that allowed Laos the chance to bounce back and tie us," said Philippine Football. Federation president.

"Still, there is nothing to be ashamed about the performance of our national team. As you can see, they played their hearts out and, with a little more breaks, the outcome would have been more in our favor," Adad added.

In front of a sizeable and vocal crowd which included Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit and Philippine Sports Commission Carlos Tuason, the Filipinos overcame early jitters and seized the initiative.

Their sustained pressure finally paid off through striker Jimmy Doña who booted in the icebreaker in the 20th, ramming in a 10-foot roller in front of the goalmouth after taking a looping pass on the left flank near midfield from sweeper Raymund Tonog.

The RP footballers kept Laotian goalie Vannasith Thilavongsa busy the rest of the way en route to a 1-0 halftime lead (Rene Adad)."

But signs that the locals were slowing down appeared midway in the second half as they flirted with disaster when Laotian striker Chanty Souksombath slipped past Filipino goalkeeper Mercado, who had strayed too far from the net.

But thanks to a soggy pitch caused by a heavy mid-morning downpour, Souksombath was unable to break away cleanly towards the goal, allowing Tonog to catch up and smother the attempt inside the goalbox.

Nisavong atoned for his teammate’s miscue with 20 minutes to go, securing the tying marker with that bullet-like header when the Filipino defense was caught napping.