Philippines coach Carles Cuadrat lamented his sideâs late 1-0 loss to Thailand in Group B of the ASEAN Hyundai Cup⢠2026 on Tuesday amid concerns the five-times semi-finalists could miss out on the knock-out rounds of this yearâs tournament.
The Filipinos remain in fourth place on three points after three matches as a result of Waris Choolthong’s 84th-minute header, which secured a third successive win for Thailand and takes Anthony Hudsonâs team to the cusp of the semi-finals.
In contrast, the Philippines will travel to Kuala Lumpur to take on Malaysia on Saturday with their fate out of their own hands as Cuadratâs side need to defeat Tan Cheng Hoeâs team and hope other results go in their favour.
âUnfortunately, six points may not be enough to reach the semi-finals,â said the Spaniard. âDuring the previous tournament, the Philippines qualified with six points, but that may not be sufficient this time because of goal difference.
âWe have to understand the situation. Our objective tonight was to secure at least one point, which would have taken us to seven and left qualification in our hands against Malaysia. The situation is now more difficult.
âHowever, this is a match that every player should want to experience: travelling to Malaysia, playing in a full stadium and facing the hosts. We will give our best to secure the result that keeps our qualification hopes alive.
âWe know that we face a difficult task because of the goal difference, but we have to fight until the end.â
Hudson fielded a much-changed side for his teamâs third match in 11 days but the seven-times champions managed to grind out another victory to move onto nine points going into their final Group B match against Myanmar in Bangkok.
âI am incredibly proud of them,â Hudson said of his players. âWe had to make several changes to the squad because we have played two matches within a short period and are still at the pre-season stage.
âThe conditions were also difficult, and the pitch was not easy to play on. However, I was proud of the way the players approached the match. We continued trying to play our football, kept a clean sheet and fought until the end to secure another three points.â
Heavy rain before kick-off meant neither side was able to play their usual passing game and performances suffered as a result.
âI think the conditions helped to level the match, but I never felt that we were in any real danger apart from a couple of counter-attacks,â said Hudson. âWe played some good football at times, but we lacked the final action in the attacking third.
âThe conditions made it difficult to play. The most important objective tonight was to secure the three points, and we achieved that.â – aseanutdfc.com
