The Azkals finally put themselves on the board in their 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw in front of 9,880 fans at the Rizal Memorial Stadium against ASEAN rival Indonesia.
Both sides were looking to bounce back from opening-day defeats, but it was the Philippines who dominated proceedings early on. Veteran forward Patrick Reichelt nearly dealt the opening blow, as did Mike Ott who almost forced defender Rizky Ridho into an own goal.
It was one-way traffic for the Azkals at this point, but with no goals to show for it. Reichelt, after pouncing on the rebound off a save by keeper Ernando Ari, had an appeal for a penalty waved off, while Mike Ott got an attempt saved moments later. The breakthrough came for the home side after 25 minutes, with Reichelt converting off of a well-weighted pass from Kevin Ingreso, taking advantage of a muddled Indonesia defense.
That goal took Reichelt’s international goal tally to 15, leading all active Azkals.
It seemed to wake up the Indonesian side, with forward Rafael Struick hitting wide in what had been their best chance of the half.
Coming off the break, the Garuda looked aggressive, trying to take back control and creating set pieces. The match had become a testy affair, with Santi Rublico and Kevin Ingreso getting yellow cards early into the half. The visitors kept pushing for their equalizer and they eventually got theirs in the 70th minute. Ricky Kambuaya made a solo run, beating the confused Azkals defense, laying it off for Saddil Ramdani to hit home.
But the Azkals kept looking to regain the lead, especially in the later moments of the match. Reichelt nearly got his brace in the 86th minute off a cross from substitute Pocholo Bugas, while Rublico almost scored from the edge of the penalty area early into stoppage time.
The Philippines currently sit in third place in Group G with a point, with their next two qualifiers in March 2024 coming against group leaders Iraq, first away, then at home. Indonesia stayed bottom of the group with one point and an inferior goal difference with their 5-1 defeat against Iraq earlier in the campaign.
Future chemical engineer and longtime football fan, Dann’s passion for the beautiful game has grown from the Miracle in Hanoi days, and he has been a Manchester United fan since. With a keen interest in the analytics side of the sport, he runs his own blog CounterPressPH, and has been covering the local game with Eat Sleep Breathe Football.
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