Thailand's penalty kick dashes Azkals' Suzuki Cup semis hopes

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Azkals conceded a penalty kick late in the second half to lose to Thailand, 1-2, as their 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals hopes dimmed on Tuesday.

After equalizing in the 57th minute with Patrick Reichelt scoring off a set piece, Thailand's Teerasil Dangda nailed a goal at the 76th minute — his 19th in AFF Suzuki Cup history — to take all three points in the day's fixture.

The Philippines thus needs hosts Singapore to lose to Timor Leste in the second Group A match of the day to keep their hopes of moving on alive.

The Azkals, led by goalkeeper Kevin Mendoza, held a gallant stand against the powerhouse Thais for the most part before Amani Aguinaldo was called for the foul inside the goal box as the referee deemed the Filipino's defense on Thitiphan Puangjan a trip.

Though Mendoza was able to guess right on where Teerasil was sending the ball, the power behind the Thai's strike was too much as it hammered to the back of the net.

Teerasil also opened the scoring for Thailand as he blasted the ball past Mendoza for the first time in the 26th minute.

Teerasil became the Suzuki Cup's all-time leading scorer with his goals against the Azkals.

Thailand, with nine points in Group A, thus moves forward to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Azkals will hope to finish on a high note against Myanmar on Saturday.

However, they will be without skipper Stephan Schrock, who incurred his second yellow card of the tournament against Thailand, which automatically translates to a one-game suspension.