By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Philippine men’s football team entered the win column of the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup following a 5-1 domination of Brunei Darussalam at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Friday evening, December 23.

Sebastian Rasmussen fired two second half goals, while Kenshiro Daniels, Sandro Reyes and Ilonggo Jhan-Jhan Melliza added a conversion each as the Azkals improved to three points with one win and a loss.

“I didn’t even think about it to get so many minutes at halftime. It was just amazing to help the team with two goals and one assist. I’m so proud of the team and the supporters. They helped us a lot,” Rasmussen said.

The victory also served as the Philippine men’s booters’ bounce back following an unexpected 3-2 defeat to Cambodia, a squad that the Azkals have dominated the past two decades.

Daniels opened the scoring for the Azkals with a seventh-minute goal off a one-on-one with Haimie Nyaring, before Reyes knocked in his first-ever national team conversion five minutes later.

The Azkals continued their rampage in the second half with Melliza widening the advantage to three with a 50th minute conversion before Rasmussen had his first connection a minute later.

Brunei pulled one back in the 70th minute with a header from Razimie Ramlli, but Rasmussen restored the four-game difference with an 88-minute strike to cap the Azkals’ dominant home stand.

“I think as a team, this victory against Brunei boosts our confidence,” Reyes said.

“We just had to win here to stay in contention. We are still thinking obviously about the Cambodia game,” he added.

Both teams will return to action on Monday, December 26, with the Azkals travelling to Bangkok to face Thailand at the Thammasat Stadium at 8:30 p.m., while Brunei will host Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur at 6:00 p.m.

“Thailand is a different animal (compared to) Brunei. But since most of the guys are playing professionally, they were a huge help for us young guys out there, especially in this upcoming game,” Reyes said./ASC, WDJ