The Philippine men's national football team overcame all its struggles in the past few years to finally take down regional powerhouse Thailand in Leg 1 of the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup semifinals.
For 52 years, Thailand always had the Philippines’ number in men’s football.
But that streak finally ended on Friday, December 27 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Philippine men’s national football team scored a historic 2-1 victory over Thailand to gain the upper hand in the semifinals of the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.
At the forefront of the victory was midfielder Sandro Reyes, who scored the opening goal for the Philippines with a left-foot curler in the 21st minute, hearing the load roars of the jam-packed crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Growing up, the 21-year-old Reyes was used to seeing the Thais dominate the tournament. But times have changed, and the Filipinos are ready to compete among the regional powerhouses.
“I've played football since [I was] four years old in the Philippines. I was always watching the Suzuki Cup since I was a kid and Thailand was always the team to beat. They were always the strongest team in Southeast Asia for so long, so to beat them just shows how far we've come, where we are right now,” Reyes said during the post-match press conference.
Despite conceding late in the first half, Reyes and the rest of the national team continued to put on the pressure against Thailand.
After going through numerous heartbreaks in the group stage, the Philippines' mental fortitude could not longer be questioned.
Their patience paid off in the final minute of the game, as Zico Bailey delivered a solid ball which found Paul Tabinas, who headed it into the direction of defender Kike Linares, who scored the winning goal.
“We started the game really really strong, including myself. But then I think the mistake maybe hurt us a bit mentally and physically. In the second half, they came out really strong, stronger than us, but we knew how to suffer,” said Reyes.
“We suffered the entire group stage and I think the group stage was a perfect practice for today because we suffered a lot and we found a way to get out of all of those hurdles. We went through hell and we came out,” he added.
Of course, the Philippines will still need to secure at least a draw in the second leg, which will be held on December 30 at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.
That’s why Reyes remains focused on their humongous task at hand on Monday.
“The job is not even halfway done. We have a really difficult second leg coming up and we want to play a Final here, so we'll give everything to play that final game,” Reyes emphasized.