MANILA, Philippines - A short-handed Philippine national football team played Uzbekistan close but lost 1-0 to Uzbekistan in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match on Thursday, March 24 at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The Azkals were without Stephan Schrock and Phil Younghusband due to injury, plus Misagh Bahadoran and Manny Ott due to accumulated yellow card suspensions. The Azkals also lost OJ Porteria due to an early red card, leaving them with only 10 players.
The Philippines managed to keep the match scoreless early on due to outstanding goalkeeping by Neil Etheridge, but a header at the '60 mark gave Uzbekistan the lone goal of the match.
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Uzbekistan is now 2-0 against the Philippines, having won 5-1 last year in Bulacan.
The Philippines wraps up its World Cup qualifiers schedule at home against North Korea on March 29. – Rappler.com