PHL banks on second-half surge, crushes Laos in Hyundai Cup

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Philippine Men’s National Football Team scored its first win in the ongoing ASEAN Hyundai Cup after stomping Laos, 4-1, at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane on Aug. 1, 2026.

With the win, the PMNFT bounced back from a disappointing 1-4 loss to Myanmar during its opening campaign on July 28, 2026, at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium.

However, it wasn’t a smooth first-half performance for the Filipino booters, as Laos quickly drew first blood seven minutes into the showdown.

A long attempt from Laos’ Damoth Thongkhamsavath surprised PHL goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad, who had a loose grip while handling the kick, allowing the hosts to seize early momentum with a 1-0 lead.

Eight minutes later, an unfortunate sequence of events would haunt Laos for the rest of the match after the team was reduced to 10 men following Phetdavanh Somsanid’s ejection.

Somsanid was sent off after a VAR review revealed his dangerous tackle on PHL’s Jarvey Gayoso.

After that deflating moment, the PMNFT took advantage and flipped the script when the second half kicked off.

Laos didn’t stand a chance against PHL, as the rejuvenated PMNFT overwhelmed the team by scoring four unanswered goals, starting with John Lucero’s equalizer in the 47th minute.

An unfortunate own goal then doomed Laos, giving the PMNFT a 2-1 lead after Cole Mrowka’s attempt was deflected into the goal by defender Viengxay Sydavong.

From that point, the PMNFT dominated the match and further increased its cushion with goals from Gayoso, via a penalty, and Daisuke Sato.

The PMNFT will have a day of rest before taking on Thailand in a must-win duel on Aug. 4, 2026, at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac.

I changed “rejection” to “ejection,” corrected the venue name to “New Clark City Athletics Stadium,” and replaced “save” with “attempt” because the original description of the own goal was unclear.