National football team’s hopes dashed in Peace Cup title-decider. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan went into the match with a 1-0 win against Chinese Taipei 1-0, while host Philippines had a shaky start to the campaign after facing a 2-1 defeat to Chinese Taipei in the opening match.
Pakistan were only required to hold the Philippines to a draw in the final match in order to win the title.
Despite taking an early lead with striker Kaleemullah’s goal in the 15th minute, Pakistan failed to contain their opponents, who equalised with Patrick Gerry Anthony Reichelt’s goal in the 33rd minute.
Both teams continued to look for a breakthrough in the second-half, however, the Philippines’ attacking game paid off, as Christopher Greatwich scored the second goal in the 78th minute. Stephan Schrock doubled the lead in the 88th minute to seal the victory for the hosts.
“The 3-1 margin was not good,” PFF secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told The Express Tribune.
“Our team lost one match and won one, so for now I can only say that better decisions could’ve been made in the last match. Statistically speaking, we should’ve won the match because we defeated Chinese Taipei in a good game while the Philippines had lost to them earlier.
“Even though the Philippines are ranked 141 in the Fifa standings, I thought we had a good chance of winning. But we’ll analyse how the team played once they come back.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2013.
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