Philippines Eager to Impress in Front of Home Fans in Return to ASEAN Semi-Final

Photo and press release courtesy of PMNT Media

DECEMBER 26, 2024 ; MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Back in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup for the first time in six years, the Philippine Men’s National Football Team is eager to get off to a strong start in their two-legged tie versus regional powerhouse Thailand.

The first match will be held at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Friday night, December 27, 9PM, with the second leg to be played in Bangkok on the 30th. Up against seven-time champions of ASEAN’s biggest stage, and a team ranked 53 places higher in the FIFA rankings, Philippine Head Coach Albert Capellas sees no reason to change the approach that got his team to the knockout rounds.

“It’s nice to be here again, it means we’ve qualified for the semi-finals. It’s very nice to see all of you again, and to have the chance to play two more good games,” said Capellas. “We have this rule that the most important game is the next game, and we won’t change that. We always prepare the games believing we can win. We know that Thailand is a very strong opponent, but we’ll attack with the same mentality. This is the way that we’ve prepared for this game — exactly the same as all the other games.” Bjorn Kristensen’s goal in front of 17,000 Indonesians was what sealed passage for the Filipinos into the semi-finals. The young striker is no stranger to Thailand, having opened his goal scoring account for the Philippines against Friday’s opponent a couple months ago.

“It will be a good game against a strong opponent. It’s what we live for, to play against good teams. Hopefully we can get the win in the first leg, and the hopefully the second leg also,” said Kristensen, scorer of two goals so far in this tournament.

The Filipinos will be without the services of Amani Aguinaldo due to suspension, as well as Patrick Reichelt, who recently announced his retirement from international football.

The team will welcome back Santi Rublico, though, who bolsters the team’s options in attack. “In this tournament we’re experts in finding the balance. It’s one of the keys of why we’re here today. We had to find the balance of the minutes we deliver to every player. Every player who got the chance delivered their best,” said Capellas, before adding, “Alone we cannot achieve anything, together we can achieve a lot of things. One of the strong parts of this group, is the belief that they have — they do everything together — and the effort that they make in every game. That means with or without Amani [and Patrick], that will not change.”

“With Santi, he could only join us if we made it to the semi-final stage and I’m very happy that the club allowed him to join us. He knows all the players, knows the system, and knows me
very well. He has the same chances as everyone else to get minutes.”

Tickets to the Filipinos’ clash with Thailand are available on Ticketmax.ph. The game will be aired LIVE matchday.ph and on PTV Sports.