By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

The Philippine national football team, the Azkals, suffered a drubbing from China, losing 8-1 in their friendly Wednesday night at the Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Centre Stadium.
“We are still far away from that level,” said Azkals head coach Thomas Dooley.
The match served as a warm-up for the Azkals, with their June 13 AFC Asian Cup qualifier match against Tajikistan.
“I don’t know if it affects the game. I hope not,” he added. “The players are down but I’m sure we will get them back up again.”
The sole Azkals goal came courtesy of Global Cebu FC striker Misagh Bahadoran in the 33rd minute.
The Azkals leave for Dushanbe, Tajikistan today./WDJ