Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kathmandu: Head coach Jamal Mahmoud expressed his disappointment at what he believed was one of the poorest displays ever from a Palestine side as the West Asians' went down 4-3 to the Philippines in Monday's AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Third-place play-off.
The Philippines took the lead after just four minutes through Phil Younghusband but just four minutes after Abdulhamid Abuhabib had struck a 20th minute equaliser Palestine conceded a penalty allowing Younghusband to restore the Azkals' lead.
Angel Guirado, returning after missing the semi-final through suspension, made it 3-1 just before the break and while Abuhabib closed the gap with his second of the match in the 67th minute Angel's bother Juan Guirado restored the Philippines' two-goal cushion two minutes later.
Fahed Attal scored Palestine's third and although the West Asians pushed hard for the leveller the Philippines held out for the 4-3 win.
"Firstly, my congratulations to the Philippines but this was probably the worst Palestine performance in the past 12-and-a-half years," a melancholy Mahmoud said at the post-match press conference.
"But I thank the players for their efforts and their attempt to get back into the match," continued the Jordan, who was frustrated by the fact that his side knew exactly what to expect from their opponents.
"Tactically, we knew exactly how the Philippines would play and we trained for this.
"I don't blame the players for being tired. I blame them for losing concentration. There were six or seven players who were having an off day.
"We wanted to make the people of Palestine happy but it was just not our day.
"As the tournament was not played on official FIFA match days and because of the situation in Palestine we couldn't get our best players but overall it was a good tournament for us and we are progressing."