Porteria lifts Azkals to 1-nil win over Myanmar

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals went to Myanmar looking to toughen up for the AFC Challenge Cup in March and at the same time build up its Southeast Asian Games core later this year.

They achieved both as the Azkals opened the year with a second consecutive win over the White Angels, 1-0, in a FIFA-sanctioned friendly on Wednesday night in Yangon, Myanmar.

OJ Porteria, the 18-year old midfielder who scored in the last SEA Games, reprised his role with a rocket in the 78th minute to give the Azkals the 1-nil victory after a shaky start.

Given plenty of space, Porteria launched the game winning goal on the left top of the box that caught Myanmar's defense napping.

It was a fitting follow-up to the Azkals’s 2-0 win over the White Angels at the close of the group stage which propelled the country to a return stint in the AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals last December.

Without the core of the senior squad that saw action in the Suzuki Cup, the Azkals relied on the young guns to pull off the close win on the road.

The Azkals missed the services of Stephan Schrock, Jerry Lucena, Dennis Cagara, Paul Mulders, the Guirado brothers as well as local-based players Carlie de Murga, Denis Wolf and Misagh Bahadoran, who remained at home all nursing with injuries.

The core of the Under-23 SEA Games squad started with Neil Etheridge and Porteria alongside Jeffrey Christiaens, Jason de Jong and Marwin Angeles joining veterans Phil Younghusband, Manny Ott, Patrick Reichelt, Chris Greatwich and Rob Gier.

Porteria shone on offense with the marginal goal late in the match while Etheridge, who missed the Suzuki Cup due to club commitment, came up with timely saves especially in the first half when the home team came close to scoring several times.

Myanmar, on the other hand, played without star midfielder Kyi Lin due to injury.