Philippines goalkeeper Neil Etheridge during his stint with English club Charlton Athletic. (Photo : Getty Images)
Reeling squad Philippines (2-4-1, 7 points) will try to end their AFC 2018 World Cup qualifiers stint with a victory as they take on North Korea (5-1-1, 16 points) in a final Group H matchday encounter at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, Philippines on March 29th, Tuesday.
The Azkals settled for a tough 0-0 road draw with the Chollima during their first meeting of the tournament on October 8th of last year during matchday 5 at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea and the team will look to do better this time at their home field in Manila.
However, head coach Thomas Dooley's squad is coming off a sorry 0-1 loss to Group H leaders Uzbekistan at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent last Thursday to drop to the fourth spot in the group table and become officially eliminated from World Cup contention, as reported by CNN Philippines.
Uzbek defender Anzur Ismailov, who now plays for Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai, scored the lone goal for the hosts, who have now overtaken North Korea for the top spot in Group H with 18 points.
Meanwhile, the Chollima's most previous game in the said tournament was back on Nov. 17th of last year, a 2-0 victory over lowly Bahrain at the Kim Il-sung Stadium, via Soccerway.
Strikers Pak Kwang-ryong and Jong Il-gwan provided the goals for head coach Kim Chang-bok's squad at the stroke of halftime and during stoppage time respectively of the match.
It was the fifth win of North Korea in the group stage which placed them at the fourth spot of the runners-up rankings. Only four of the eight runner-up teams in each group will advance to the third round of competitions and will have the chance to move on and qualify to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The predicted result is a hard-fought 1-0 win for the Philippines.
Philippines starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Etheridge; Rota, Guirado, Aguinaldo, Sato; Ramsay, Steuble, Reichelt, Woodland; Patiño, Clariño
North Korea starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Ri M.G.; Jang K.C., Sim H.J., Ri Y.C., Ri C.M.; So K.J., Ri K.C., Kim Y.G.; Pak K.R., Jong I.G., Ri H.C.
