Philippines eyes historic achievement in ASEAN U-23 Championship

Philippines will face Thailand in the third-place match of the ASEAN U-23 Championship at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta — an achievement that was unexpected before the tournament.

The team led by Javier Mariona showed surprising capability from the tournament start by defeating Malaysia 2-0, followed by a solid performance against Indonesia and a victory over Brunei Darussalam that took them to semifinals.

Despite failing to reach the final after a 2-1 loss to Vietnam, Philippines still has a chance to make history — this is their first opportunity to claim third place in an AFF tournament across all age levels.

The team’s success is supported by a combination of players:

• Otu Banatao and Javier Mariona from the United States
• Gavin Muens who now plays in the Philippines League
• Nicholas Guimarães who pursues his career in Japan
• Uriel Dalapo, Jaime Rosquillo and Ziggy Taningco who are local development products

Philippine football development shows positive trends — they have reached semifinals in five of the last eight AFF Cup editions. A victory over Thailand would be concrete proof of the country’s football progress.