THE Philippines tries to salvage some pride when it faces Indonesia today in their last match in Group F of the second round of the joint AFC World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Filipinos were eliminated from World Cup contention after dropping another 2-3 heartbreaker to Vietnam at the My Dinh National Stadium in the Vietnamese capital last week for their third straight setback.
They remained at the bottom of the four-team standings with a solitary point from their 1-all draw last November at the Rizal Memorial Stadium to the second running Indons, who have a seven point on a 2-1-2 win-draw-loss slate and aim to join Iraq into the next round despite losing to the Iraqis 0-2 at their hometown arena last week.
The charges of Belgian tactician Tom Saintfiet tangle with the Mera Putih (Red and White), Indonesia’s moniker, at 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. Manila time).
The Pinoy booters will still have a chance to compete in the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia in the third round of the group qualifying stage scheduled in March next year.
The Iraqis try to complete a six-game sweep of the group when they take on the Vietnamese, who are third in the group with a 2-3 win-loss record, at the My Dinh National Stadium in the other match.
