“To give the defending champs a run for their money is already an achievement in itself. We congratulate Vietnam for an amazing win. But more importantly, we congratulate our U23 team for making the country proud! To our players and coaching staff, we are very proud of you, and we will support you 100%. Let’s go for the podium finish,” said PFF President John Gutierrez.
The Philippine U23 men’s national football team will compete for the bronze medal at the 2025 ASEAN U23 Championship Mandiri Cup. This comes after a hard-fought 2-1 semifinal loss to defending champions Vietnam U23 in Jakarta on Friday.
Despite the defeat, this tournament marks the Philippines U23’s most successful campaign at the ASEAN level, as they reached the semifinals for the first time in their twenty years of participation.
Cagayan de Oro native Javier Mariona ignited hopes of an upset for the Philippines, scoring the opening goal in the 36th minute. The goal was a testament to excellent teamwork: UP Fighting Maroon wing-back Jian Caraig delivered a quality long throw, finding midfield maestro Jax Peña for a shot from the top of the box. A Vietnamese block resulted in a high ball, which Yale’s
Noah Leddel skillfully won and headed to Mariona, who then netted his second goal of the tournament.
“At this point in time we are hurting. I know that this group of players will be disappointed, they have a belief they can win every game. We took a lead, we lost a lead but again we are in this game right up until the last moments,” Head Coach Garrath McPherson said on the match. “We came here to be positive, we wanted to take the game to our opponent. We had an intent to steal the ball high, we had an intent to control the game when we had it.”
“Vietnam is a good team with a lot of quality, I am proud of the game our players played. I will remind them it is normal to be hurting, but we leave with our heads held high,” he concluded.
The defending champions, however, quickly demonstrated their experience and resolve. Vietnam equalized in the 41st minute when Nguyen Dinh Bac capitalized on his own missed header, slotting the rebound past goalkeeper Nic Guimaraes after it bounced off the woodwork. The go-ahead goal came in the 54th minute, with Nguyen Xuan Bac heading in the winner from Nguyen Phi Hoang’s cross from the top left.
The Philippines U23 will now turn their attention to the bronze medal match, scheduled for Monday, July 28, at 9 PM KST. They will face the loser of the second semifinal game between Indonesia U23 and Thailand U23.
