Philippine Azkals head coach Hans Michael Weiss rued their missed chances that led to their 1-1 draw with Chinese Taipei in a friendly match at the Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taipei.
Weiss said they had strong chances to eke out a victory but they faded down the stretch, prompting the Taiwanese to forge a draw.
The Filipinos were ahead following an 18th minute goal by Patrick Reichelt until Shao-Yu Pai delivered an equalizer for the Taiwanese in the 94th minute.
“I think it was a fantastic game considering the circumstances. The pitch was difficult to play in. There was no technical play possible,” said Weiss after coaching his third game since returning to the coaching helm for the national men’s football team.
“I think, with all respect to Taipei, we should have won the game. We should have killed it, the keeper made some fantastic saves.”
After Chinese Taipei, the Azkals will confront Afghanistan on 12 September at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in another friendly match that serves as their warm-up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament starting 16 November.
Still, Weiss remains optimistic that his wards will use the match as a springboard to pull off a convincing win over the Afghans.
“Give credit to the players. We didn’t win but we have all the reasons to be proud of this performance and we are looking forward to our home game in Manila on the 12th against Afghanistan,” Weiss said.
Reichelt agrees, saying that the team continues to do better with Weiss at the helm.
“I feel like we are improving in every camp and we have one or two more camps before November to fight for the top two spots to the next round and matches against good opponents like Chinese Taipei can only help us improve,” Reichelt said.
