MANILA, Philippines -- The Phl Azkals toyed with Papua New Guinea in an easy 5-0 win in a friendly match Sunday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Fil-British midfielder Mark Hartmann led the dismantling with four goals. He was on the attack mode early on scoring two straight goals inside the first 10 minutes of play.
“So happy for me and for the team. Just one of those days where the ball fell for me,” Hartmann said after the game.
Papua New Guinea just could not mark Hartmann as he peppered them with two more goals while Phil Younghusband was the only other Azkal who scored a goal.
Younghusband added one near halftime as the Azkals were never seriously theatened.
It was the first encounter between the two countries after their respective friendlies with other rivals were cancelled at the last minute.
The match wasn't in the Azkals' calendar until the scheduled friendly against Malaysia last Satursay got cancelled at the last minute. Papua New Guinea was supposed to play Timor Leste but was also scuttled paving the way for the Sunday's match.
Despite the easy victory, Azkals American coach Thomas Dooley stressed the need to play more matches as they can with barely five weeks left before the AFF Suzuki Cup kicks off in Hanoi, Vietnam.