U22 Philippines sets historic milestone at SEA Games

The victory over U22 Indonesia on the evening of December 8 brought U22 Philippines to the semi-finals for the first time in the history of participating in the SEA Games.

U22 Philippines makes history at SEA Games - Photo: BOLA

On the evening of December 8 at Chiang Mai Stadium (Thailand), U22 Philippines created an earthquake in men's football at the 33rd SEA Games when they won 1-0 against U22 Indonesia in the second match of Group C. This result helped U22 Philippines get 6 points after 2 matches, officially becoming the first team to win a ticket to the semi-finals of this year's regional conference with the top position.

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This is the first time the U22 Philippines has won a ticket to the semi-finals of a SEA Games since the men's football event at the regional sports festival stipulated the age limit for participating teams to be under 23 (or 22), since 2001.

Since their first participation in the SEA Games in 2005, the U22/U23 Philippines have either stopped at the group stage or not attended at all. In the last two editions, "The Azkals" were either last or second last.

Philippine social media exploded after the moment the country’s youth team made history in the regional arena. Many fans shared and commented to congratulate U22 Philippines and express their condolences to U22 Indonesia. This defeat put the team from the reigning SEA Games gold medalist at risk of being eliminated from the group stage.

"What the players need to do now is to quickly forget the defeat and prepare for the upcoming decisive match with U22 Myanmar. I hope good things will come to us," said head coach of U22 Indonesia Indra Sjafri.

U22 Philippines celebrates enthusiastically - Photo: BOLA

Behind the miracle

Philippine football has not been strong at the youth level. However, after many years of building and innovating strategies, the Philippine Football Federation has finally reaped the first results with the current U22 team.

The U22 Philippines squad for the 33rd SEA Games is a combination of local and foreign players, including players who were "implanted" into the national team in previous years. Typical examples include Santiago Rublico, Sandro Reyes and Alex Monis.

Compared to many of the opposing players of the same age in this year's tournament, the mainstay group of U22 Philippines has a lot of experience fighting in Southeast Asia.

In addition, U22 Philippines also introduced many new players, who are playing outside the region. Notable are the brothers Nicholas Guimaraes - Gabriel Guimaraes (Japan), Otu Banatao (USA). These are the main players for U22 Philippines in recent matches. Banatao was the hero of "The Azkals" when he scored the only goal to seal the victory against U22 Indonesia.

Leading the U22 Philippines is coach Garrath McPherson - an Australian strategist born in 1983, who was appointed less than a month ago. Due to limited time, Mr. McPherson chose a simple playing style for the team, focusing on efficiency in counter-attacking defense to achieve maximum results.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/u22-philippines-lap-cot-moc-lich-su-o-sea-games-20251208214243075.htm