AFTER a 1-all draw against Chinese-Taipei in Taiwan last week, the Azkals resume their build-up for their World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers in November when they face Afghanistan tonight at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
The Pinoy booters tangle with the lower-ranked Afghans at 7 p.m. hoping the hometown crowd will be there to root for them as they seek their second win in four matches under re-hired German coach Michael Weiss.
The Lions are currently ranked No. 157 in the FIFA men’s world ratings, 22 notches lower than the hosts, who will be keen on putting up a strong showing in front of local fans after the close draw against the Taiwanese in a match they could have won.
The Azkals looked poised to avenge their 2-3 setback at home the last time the two sides met when striker Patrick Reichelt struck in the 18th minute to put them up 1-0 at the break at the Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taiwan.
But the game ended in a stalemate when Pai Shao-yu struck with the equalizer four minutes into injury time in the second half.
Cleaning up their defensive lapses will be in the mind of Weiss against the Afghans, who are hoping to frustrate the Azkals anew after their last two games ended in draws, the last one a scoreless deadlock when they met in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in 2014.
