Azkals drop friendly against Golden Dragons

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Azkals suffered a 2-4 loss to regional nemesis Vietnam in their final tuneup before making their historic debut in the AFC Asian Cup next week.

Adam Tull scored his first international goal while Miguel Tanton netted his career second as the Pinoy booters took another setback at the hands of the Golden Dragons in the New Year’s Eve friendly held at Al Duhail Stadium in Doha.

The Azkals hope to learn from this defeat to reigning Asean champ Vietnam – their third in as many matches dating back to the two-legged Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup semifinals – ahead of their departure for the United Arab Emirates for Asia’s centerpiece tournament.

The Filipinos brace for an uphill battle in their first-ever Asian Cup as they face high-powered South Korea (Jan. 7 in Dubai) and China (Jan. 11 in Abu Dhabi), and fellow debutant Kyrgyz Republic (Jan. 15 in Dubai) in Group C.

The Koreans, the Chinese and the Kyrgyz booters also played friendlies over the weekend and got better results than the Azkals.

Korea battled Saudi Arabia in a 0-0 draw in Abu Dhabi while China also shared the spoils with host Jordan in a friendly in Harbin, China and Kyrgyz edged Palestine, 2-1, at Al Sailiya Stadium in the Qatari capital.