MANILA, Philippines � The Philippine Azkals concluded their tour in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a loss against Qantas Australia Under-23 team in Dubai.
Except for a first-half blunder that gave Qantas a 1-0 advantage, the Nationals were able to give the Aussies a good challenge.
Australia grabbed the lead in the 11th minute when team captain Jason Hoffman scored a header off an attempted clearance by Azkals� Juan Luis Guirado.
The Azkals, who were joined by Filipino-British goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, showed resiliency in the second half and came close to scoring an equalizer.
Joshua Beloya almost scored late in the game after receiving a pass from Lexton Moy inside the penalty area. His shot, however, went over the cross bar.
Dennis Wolf also came close to scoring a goal after evading the Australian defense but was stopped in the penalty area.
The final score was 1-0 in favor of the Australians.
The Nationals played minus siblings Phil and James Younghusband, who both had to return to Manila for prior commitments.
The game was the Azkals� 3rd and final friendly game in their UAE tour.
They lost to the Uzbekistan Olympic team, 0-3, but produced a 3-1 win over Qatar pro football team Al Ahli.
The games are part of the Azkals� preparations for the 2012 Challenge Cup in Nepal next month where they will be up against defending champion North Korea, India, and Tajikistan.
ABS CBN News
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