What was suppose to be a dream come true turned out to be a big nightmare. The 140th ranked Philippine Azkals lost to 165th ranked Palestine, 0-1, in the finals of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. With the loss, the Azkals missed the last bus to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup to be held in Australia.
Right at the start of the game, Palestine was obviously determined to win. Aggressive in its offense, solid with its defense and accurate with its ball passing, Palestine clearly outplayed the Azkals. Palestine truly deserved to win as it proved to be the better team.
But what makes the defeat of the Azkals such a terrible sight was the off-the-pitch behavior of the team. I was terribly offended that the team captain of the Azkals could not sing Lupang Hinirang. Being a national player of the Philippine team, the least one can do is to know how to sing the national anthem. Dan Palami, the team manager of the Azkals was ejected from the playing field as he was probably complaining too much. And at the awarding ceremony, The Azkals intentionally showed their disgust with their frowns and immediate removal of the medals hanging around their necks.
There can be honor even in defeat. Sadly, the Philippine Azkals have not learned this despite their years of playing together. And this makes the Philippine Azkals such losers.
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