Philippines, Malaysia start preparation for 2017 SEA Games with goalless draw

In another turn in the story of draws between the Philippines and Malaysia, the under-22 sides fought for another goalless stalemate in their friendly at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Thursday night.

Ninety minutes of football did not separate both sides to emulate their senior and club counterparts in recording draws.

The host team for the 2017 edition of the biennial meet showed an encore of its 4-1 domination over the 2019 host in Malaysia in their last meeting by going on attack mode in the first half, but the latter held on defensively and even came close to nailing a goal just before halftime as Jarvy Gayoso went on a one-on-one with the keeper only that the goalie saved the ball out.

The U22 Azkals then turned the tides in the restart, going aggressive to the goal as the U22 Malaysians began losing steam.

The U22 Azkals came very close to a goal in the 62nd minute as Jeremiah Borlongan got a piece of the ball just as a Malaysian defender was letting his netminding teammate grab it and flicked it to a now wide open goal mouth. The defender cleared the ball out just before it went in.

Despite the fatigue setting in, Malaysia kept the Azkals in check, leading to the deadlock at the final whistle.

Via: Dugout