2014 AFC Challenge Cup final

The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup Final was an association football match between Palestine and the Philippines on 30 May 2014 at the National Football Stadium in Malé, Maldives.

2014 AFC Challenge Cup Final
The National Football Stadium where it was held.
Event2014 AFC Challenge Cup
Date30 May 2014
VenueNational Football Stadium, Malé
RefereeValentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)
Attendance6,500
WeatherCloudy
28 °C (82 °F)[1]
2012

Background

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The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nations that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" program.[2] It was an idea by former AFC president, Mohammed Bin Hammam which its goal to raise the standards of Asian football at all levels.[2] The AFC Challenge Cup, which reflected the philosophy of "Vision Asia", was created for teams to experience playing in a continental competition with the possibility to win an AFC trophy and potentially discover new talent.[3] It was held in every two years as its inaugural edition took place on 2006 in Bangladesh.[4] This 2014 Challenge Cup was the last season, due to the expansion of participating national teams in the AFC Asian Cup from 16 to 24.[5] Maldives won the hosting rights, with two renovated stadiums (Addu Football Stadium and National Football Stadium) were used as venues in the tournament.[6][7] The winner qualifies for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.[8]

The two countries met twice before the finals match.[9] Their first meeting was in the qualification phase of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup on 23 March 2011 which ended in a goalless draw.[10] While their second match together was at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup third-place playoff, where the Filipinos won the game, 4–3.[11] That result causes the Philippines to grab their best finish yet in a major tournament and in the Challenge Cup.[12] Michael Weiss, then head coach of the Philippines congratulated his team by "showing their fighting spirit" throughout the game.[13] He later admitted that "[he did not] expected the match to go that way".[14] While, Palestine head coach Jamal Mahmoud described their last game against them was "the worst game that we ever played in international football".[13][15] Like the Philippines, Palestine also made history as they were the first West Asian team to be in the knockout stage of the tournament.[16] The Philippines were considered the "favorites" heading towards the game. Goal.com predicted that the Filipinos were more likely to beat Palestine in a 2–1 scoreline.[17]

Route to the final

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Before going to the main contest proper, all participating countries except Maldives competed in a qualifying round.[18] Twenty nations confirmed their interest to take part in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers[19] with Brunei withdrawing a day before the qualifiers citing "unavoidable circumstances".[20] The winner of each group, and the best and better ranked second placed teams qualified for the AFC Challenge Cup proper. The teams in the group stages was trimmed down to eight, with the first and second ranked teams of each group advancing to the knockout stage.[18]

  Palestine Round   Philippines
AFC Challenge Cup
Opponent Result Qualifying round Opponent Result
  Bangladesh 1–0 Qualifying Matchday 1   Brunei Cancelled
  Northern Mariana Islands 9–0 Qualifying Matchday 2   Cambodia 8–0
    Nepal 0–0 Qualifying Matchday 3   Turkmenistan 1–0
Group D first place

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Palestine 3 2 1 0 10 0 +10 7
  Bangladesh 3 2 0 1 6 1 +5 6
    Nepal 3 1 1 1 6 2 +4 4
  Northern Mariana Islands 3 0 0 3 0 19 −19 0
Source: RSSSF
Qualifying round standings Group E first place

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Philippines 2 2 0 0 9 0 +9 6
  Turkmenistan 2 1 0 1 7 1 +6 3
  Cambodia 2 0 0 2 0 15 −15 0
Source: RSSSF
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
  Kyrgyzstan 1–0 Matchday 1   Afghanistan 0–0
  Myanmar 2–0 Matchday 2   Laos 2–0
  Maldives 0–0 Matchday 3   Turkmenistan 2–0
Group A first place

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Palestine 3 2 1 0 3 0 +3 7
  Maldives (H) 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4
  Kyrgyzstan 3 1 0 2 1 3 −2 3
  Myanmar 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts
Final standings Group B first place

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Philippines 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 7
  Afghanistan 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5
  Turkmenistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
  Laos 3 0 1 2 1 7 −6 1
Source: RSSSF
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
  Afghanistan 2–0 Semi-finals   Maldives 3–2 (aet)

Match

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Palestine  1–0  Philippines
Nu'man   64' Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Palestine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Philippines
GK 21 Ramzi Saleh (c)
DF 2 Raed Fares
DF 15 Abdelatif Bahdari
DF 16 Haytham Theeb
MF 14 Abdullah Jaber
MF 19 Abdelhamid Abuhabib   83'   86'
MF 20 Khader Yousef
MF 23 Murad Ismail Said
MF 8 Hilal Musa   77'
FW 10 Imad Zatara   90+1'
FW 7 Ashraf Nu'man   90+4'
Substitutes:
GK 1 Tawfiq Ali
GK 22 Ghanem Mahajneh
DF 3 Hussam Abu Saleh   77'
DF 5 Omar Jarun   90+1'
DF 6 Mousa Abu Jazar   86'
DF 13 Khaled Mahdi
DF 18 Mus'ab Al-Batat
FW 9 Tamer Seyam
FW 11 Ahmad Maher Wridat
FW 17 Rami Musalmeh
Head coach:
  Jamal Mahmoud
Manager:
Abdallah Alfara
GK 15 Roland Müller
RB 23 Simone Rota   82'
CB 12 Amani Aguinaldo
CB 2 Rob Gier (c)
LB 21 Martin Steuble   90+5'
RM 11 Patrick Reichelt   69'
CM 6 Jason de Jong
LM 3 Daisuke Sato
AM 22 Paul Mulders   73'
AM 17 Stephan Schröck   46'
CF 10 Phil Younghusband
Substitutes:
GK 1 Neil Etheridge
GK 16 Patrick Deyto
DF 4 Anton del Rosario
DF 5 Juan Guirado
MF 7 James Younghusband
MF 14 Simon Greatwich
MF 18 Chris Greatwich
MF 19 Jerry Lucena   46'
MF 20 OJ Porteria   73'
FW 9 Kenshiro Daniels   82'
FW 13 Ruben Doctora
Head coach:
  Thomas Dooley
Manager:
Dan Palami

Assistant referees:
Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)
Lee Jung-min (South Korea)
Fourth official:
Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Match rules[18]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Maximum of twelve named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

References

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  1. ^ "History for Malé, Maldives". Weather Underground. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Vision Asia Philosophy". Asian Football Confederation. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  3. ^ "AFC Challenge Cup in 2006 Competition Information". Asian Football Confederation. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  4. ^ "AFC Challenge Cup opening ceremony in Bangladesh". Asian Football Confederation. 28 November 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Revamp of AFC competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Maldives to Host 2014 AFC Challenge Cup". Asian Football Confederation. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Zone Stadium rebranded as Addu Football Stadium". Sun Online. 18 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  8. ^ "AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 preliminary draw results". Asian Football Confederation. 9 October 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Head to Head Stats of Palestine v. Philippines". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Philippines 0–0 Palestine". Asian Football Confederation. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Live Commentary of Philippines v. Palestine (2012)". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  12. ^ "PHL Azkals seize 3rd place in AFC Challenge Cup with 4-3 win vs. Palestine". GMA News Online. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  13. ^ a b Naredo, Camille (19 March 2012). "Azkals make history, finish 3rd in Challenge Cup". ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Weiss Gripped by Third Place Thriller". Asian Football Confederation. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  15. ^ "We saved our worst for last!". Asian Football Confederation. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  16. ^ Gutierrez, Natashya (26 June 2012). "Azkals bring home bronze, pride for PH". Rappler. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Preview Report of Palestine v. Philippines (2014)". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  18. ^ a b c "AFC Challenge Cup 2014 Competition Regulations" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. pp. 18–19, 25. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Northern Mariana Debuts in Challenge Cup". Asian Football Confederation. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  20. ^ Begawan, Bandar (21 March 2013). "Brunei Withdraw from AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers". ASEAN Football Federation. Retrieved 3 January 2015.