Azkals suffer shutout loss to Thais

MANILA, Philippines — Holder Thailand proved too much for the Philippines and hacked out a 4-0 shutout that severely jeopardized the youthful Azkals’ AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup semifinal bid Monday night in Pathum Thani.

Ace striker Teerasil Dangda delivered a pinpoint header just three minutes in and converted his spot kick in the 41st to give the War Elephants a 2-0 cushion in the one-sided Group A match at the Thammasat Stadium.

Dangda later set up Adisak Kraisorn for their third goal in the 57th before Suphanat Bureerat capped scoring four minutes later to seal maximum points in front of ecstatic home supporters.

With back-to-back wins, the War Elephants grabbed top spot in the group with six points and a goal difference of nine ahead of Indonesia (six points and eight GD), which annihilated Brunei, 7-0, over in Kuala Lumpur.

The new-look Pinoy booters sustained their second loss against a lone win and fell to fourth with three points and -1 GD behind Cambodia’s three points and 0 GD.

The Azkals have one game left in the group stage – against Indonesia.