Indonesia - Philippines share points, Thailand holds the top position

Indonesia could only draw 2-2 with co-host Philippines in the match on the evening of November 22, thereby accidentally helping Thailand take the top spot in Group A one round early.

Phil Younghusband (No. 10) scored to help the Philippines keep their hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive. Photo: ESPN

Goals: Aryanto 7', Solossa 68' - Bahadoran 31', Younghusband 82'

Playing with the cheers of tens of thousands of home fans, the Philippines made an unforgettable match. The team repeatedly equalized after falling behind twice, including a wonderful goal from a free kick bymain striker Phil Younghusband.

Meanwhile, Indonesia failed to achieve their goal of winning three points to make up for their opening loss to Thailand. The archipelago nation took an early lead and took the lead once more in the second half, only to drop two points with eight minutes left in regulation time.

The draw between Indonesia and the Philippines has inadvertently helped Thailand complete its group stage mission early. After two wins, Thailand is firmly in the lead of Group A with six points. The Philippines is in second place with two points, having drawn both matches. Singapore and Indonesia are in the remaining two positions with the same points, having only one draw and one loss.

In the final round, the Philippines can benefit because they only have to face Thailand, which has run out of goals. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Singapore will have to "fight to the death" with each other and hope that Thailand will play at their best.

In terms of the game, Indonesia may have deserved to win more than the Philippines. Not only did the visitors have more classy moves, but they also created more dangerous situations towards goalkeeper Roland Muller. Without this goalkeeper, the Philippines could have suffered a heavy defeat.

In Indonesia's attack, the trio Lilipaly, Vermansyah and Solossa played the most prominently. The ball often passed through the legs of these three players before causing trouble for the Philippines' goal.Lilipaly's free kick allowed Aryanto to head in the opening goal in the seventh minute, whileVermansyah's long-range shot hit the post.Solossa jumped in to cushion the ball, raising the score to 2-1.

While Indonesia dominated the game, the Philippines were smart in exploiting set pieces. The two goals scored by the co-hosts both came from such situations:Bahadoran received the ball from the free kick to tap it into the net, while Younghusband fired a direct free kick to level the score at 2-2..

With a beautiful and meaningful goal,Younghusband once again showed the quality of a player who had trained at Chelsea's youth team. This was also the striker's 45th goal at international level, thereby breaking his own scoring record for the Philippines national team.

According to VNE