Azkals Lose to Kuwait, Bow Out of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Kuwait spoiled the Philippines’ bid to advance to the next round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on Thursday night during the second leg of their tie at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The Kuwaitis scored a 2-1 win during the match for a 5-1 aggregate tally that will take them to the third round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The Azkals (in white) scored the first goal at halftime courtesy of mid-fielder Stephan Schrock to the delight of the crowd. Unfortunately, Kuwait (in blue) was able to equalize the leaderboard in the early minutes of the second half courtesy of Yousef Nasser.

The visitors showcased a fantastic defense and barred the Azkals’ aggressiveness in meeting their target of 4 goals. And to add insult to injury, the Al-Azraq scored another goal at the 84th minute of the match courtesy of Rob Gier finishing the game with the scores 2-1 on the leaderboard in favor of the visitors.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss commended the Philippine team for its valiant effort against the Kuwaiti squad.

“I want to congratulate my team for a fantastic effort,” he said.

The Philippines now have 4 years to prepare for the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.

Right after the match, Kuwait is now 95th in the world ranking while the Philippine Azkals dropped to no. 162.

Meanwhile, neighboring country–Indonesia–was able to beat Turkmenistan in their tie-breaking match with an aggregate score of 5 over 4 and became the first Southeast Asian country to advance to the third round of Asian (AFC) qualifier.

Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos also failed to advance while Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are still playing their respective 2nd leg matches at this very moment.

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