The Philippines blasts Nepal 4-0 but fell short of Asian Cup – BusinessWorld Online
THE Philippines closed out the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers group stage with a smashing 4-0 shutout of Nepal on Tuesday night in Tajikistan but ultimately fell short of cracking the main event.
Otu Banatao (33rd minute), Javier Mariona (39th), Dov Cariño (81st) and skipper Sandro Reyes (85th) were on the scoring end as the U23 booters picked up their second straight victory to finish with six points in Group K.
The Filipinos, who previously defeated the host Tajiks, 1-0 after a 1-2 opening loss to Syria, wound up second in the group with six points behind the Syrians’ perfect nine.
Syria made it three wins out three with a 1-nil disposal of the home side en route to clinching an automatic spot in the U23 Asian Cup set January 2026 in Saudi Arabia as the group winner.
The Philippines missed out on the tickets allotted for the four best group runners up, ranking seventh after tiebreak. China, Uzbekistan and Lebanon, with seven points, and the United Arab Emirates, with six points and +14 goal difference, claimed the coveted berths. — Olmin Leyba
