PH booted out of Asian U23 qualifiers after loss to China

The Philippines lost a second straight game in the qualifying tournament for the 2018 AFC Under-23 Championship, yielding to China 2-0 at Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Cambodia, on Friday.

With 2 defeats and Japan's 2-0 win over Cambodia later in the night, the Filipinos have been eliminated from the competition.

The Philippines faces Cambodia on Saturday in a battle between two winless squads.

After being run over by Japan in their 1st game on Wednesday, the Filipinos were more fluid in their possession this time, but it wasn’t enough against China, which got its goals courtesy of He Chao and Zhang Xiuwei.

China coach Massimiliano Maddaloni said his team expected the Philippines to come out feisty after the beating it received from Japan.

"I am happy with the win today. It was not going to be easy because in their last match the Philippines lost 8-0 to Japan and of course they didn't want a repeat of that, so this match they played with a lot of heart and desire,” Maddaloni said.

Source: http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/21/17/football-ph-booted-out-of-asian-u23-qualifiers-after-loss-to-china