Phl bows out of Asean football

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine team suffered its third straight setback in Group B to bow out of the medal rounds in the inaugural Asean Football Federation (AFF) Beach Soccer Championship Saturday at Teluk Chempedak Beach in Kuantan, Malaysia.

The Filipinos dropped a 1-8 loss to host Malaysia to finish fourth and last in Group B with a winless slate. Laos topped the bracket with nine points on three wins followed by the Malaysians (six on 2-0-1) as the two moved forward to the semifinals.

Myanmar, which had a win to show against two losses, placed third ahead of Phl with three points (1-0-2).

Laos will face Group A runner-up Vietnam, in the semis while Malaysia will take on Group A topnotcher Thailand in the other Last-4 duel.

Phl started its campaign with a 2-5 loss to Laos, which created waves in the eight-team tourney despite the fact it doesn’t have a beach to train in back home.

The Philippines yielded a 3-7 defeat to Myanmar in the next game to drop to 0-0-2 a day before taking on a Malaysian side that needed a victory to secure its spot in the semis.