STRIKER Otu Bisong Banatao shredded the Malaysian defense with a brace late Tuesday night, powering the Philippines to a surprise 2-0 upset of Malaysia at the start of the Asean Under-23 Mandiri Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Before a stunned crowd at the sprawling Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Banatao pounced in the ninth and 40th minutes and the charges of Australian coach Garrath McPherson contained their rivals the rest of the way in booking their first win in Group A.
Sharing the credit was PH goalkeeper Nico Guimares, whose timely saves enabled the Nationals to preserve the hard-earned victory.
Host Indonesia clobbered Brunei in the other group match, setting up a showdown for group leadership versus the Philippines tomorrow.
“We are incredibly proud of our U-23 men! This team, a blend of homegrown talent and our best youth players from abroad, truly reflects the growing success of our talent identification program,” said Philippine Football Federation president John Gutierrez in a statement.
“Under the leadership of coach McPherson and assistant coach Popoy Clariño, we’re confident this squad will grow, as they face stronger opponents in the future,” Gutierrez added.
“Every little thing helps. When you have a short journey, you just need to prioritize what it is that you want, to know and to understand. So we prioritized some key areas of how we want to approach the game,” said McPherson, a deputy of compatriot and Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso.
“We kept it very simple, and the rest is open to the players,” he added of the victory, the first by Filipino footballers against their Under-23 counterparts since the 2019 30th Philippine Southeast Asian Games.
Jax Peña nearly added the third goal for the Philippines early in the second half with a right-footed shot that rocked the crossbar.
