Asian Cup Match 14: Philippines Unable to Replicate Win After Single Kuwaiti Goal

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Match 14: Philippines v Kuwait

Philippines Unable to Replicate Win After Single Kuwaiti Goal

January 7th, 2020

Philippines 0 Kuwait 1

 

The Philippines could not defeat West Asian side Kuwait, with the Kuwaitis scoring a vital goal to take their first three points of the Asian Cup tournament.

 

Kuwait needed a win after their loss to Australia, whereas the Philippines could see six points within their grasp. The latter brought in Marco Casambre for the injured Martin Steuble. As for Kuwait, Fahad Al Rashidi moved up to a more forward position abd Shabib Al Khaldi moved into the defence. Redha Abujabarah was still sore after the last match, and so Ahmad Al Dhefiri replaced him.

 

For Kuwait, Yousef Nasser had an early chance but seemed to enter the box and not quite know whether to pass or shoot. The second time he had a ping for goal needed a Neil Etheridge save. The resulting corner found his head, only to go straight to the goalkeeper.

 

Down the other end, Curt Dizon crossed the ball from the left flank. Angel Guirado performed a peculiar sideways header, where the ball went under the armpit of Hameed Youssuf. The ball bounced off the grass and hit the crossbar, before Fahad Al Hajeri managed to clear it.

 

Instead, Kuwait stepped up their attack. On the right wing, Faisal Al Harbi crossed to Nasser, again requiring an Etheridge save, the toughest one up to that point. Fahad Al Rashidi could have scored, but first shot was blocked, and Etheridge pounced on his second attempt. Nasser then crossed minutes later from the left wing, only for Al Rashidi to bumble the chance.

 

In the second half, Guirado worked hard for the Philippines and eventually set up John Patrick Stauß. However, the long-range shot became too easy for Youssuf, and the match was still at 0-0.

 

Finally, Nasser got onto a header that came via substitute Hamad Al Harbi and scored in the 64th minute.

 

Strauß, at the other end, attempted to equalise, but his shot hit a defender, and although it may have hit the arm, the referee declared no penalty and the game continued. Next, Dizon crossed from left wing into Guirado. The crowd thought his powerful shot had scored, only to realise Youssuf had thwarted it from entering the goal area.

 

Patrick Reichelt had a chance late, but again it was the defenders’ day. Guirado later won the ball and took on the goalkeeper, but to no avail. In the end, the Kuwaitis pulled away victors, while the Philippines must work out what went wrong with their scoring attempts.

 

Important aspects of the match:

Philippines best: Dizon with most successful dribbles overall and three out of six crosses completed; Etheridge with five saves; Strauß with the most tackles overall.

Guirado with three shots at goal.

Casambre with most passes for the Philippines.

Iain Ramsay with two key intercepts, a block and a clearance.

Carli de Murga with two clearances and a block.

The danger in not making any substitutes is that players may not be fully fit for the match against Australia.

 

Kuwait’s best: Youssuf deemed Player of the Match with six crucial saves; Al Khaldi in central defence; Nasser with his goal and five shots on target.

Al Dhefiri with most passes overall (including a key pass) and successful dribbles for Kuwait.

Bader Al Mutawa with most tackles for Kuwait.

Al Hajeri with two key intercepts, a block and a clearance.

Dhari Said with a key intercept and two clearances.