Philippines coach Carles Cuadrat is confident his young players can secure a positive result against Myanmar on Tuesday as the five-times semi-finalists begin their ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 Group B campaign in New Clark City.
Cuadrat’s side will kick off their latest attempt to secure a first-ever place in the competition’s final against a nation they last faced in June, when the Philippines registered a 5-1 friendly win over Myanmar prior to new coach Jørn Andersen’s arrival in Yangon.
But while Cuadrat believes the previous victory will give his side confidence, he knows that performance will have little bearing on the outcome at New Clark City Athletics Stadium.
“We have analysed the opposition,” said Cuadrat. “Myanmar’s new coach has introduced some different ideas, but the core group of players is quite similar to the team we faced previously. We can therefore draw on that experience.
“We will field an even younger team than the one that played in the Tri-Nations tournament. At that time, we had experienced players such as Randy Schneider and Patrick Reichelt helping the group.
“We now have only two players over the age of 30, while the rest of the squad is very young. It will be a good test for us. The players have trained very well and understand the ideas we want to implement on the pitch. We hope to produce a good performance.”
The Philippines have faced Myanmar on nine occasions over the 30 years of the regional championship, with the most recent meeting between the teams ending in a draw in 2024.
Myanmar have not won against the Philippines since 2004 and take on Cuadrat’s side after a lengthy journey from Yangon following their Group B opener on Saturday.
“We will do our best tomorrow,” said Andersen. “We know it will be a difficult away match after a long journey and a demanding game on Saturday, but we will give everything we can.”
Andersen’s side started the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 with a 2-1 loss against Malaysia and the Norwegian coach believes his team deserved a positive result from the meeting in Yangon.
“Based on the chances we created, we should have won the match, but we eventually lost 2-1 at home,” he said. “We created eight or nine major opportunities but were unable to convert them.
“I thought we played very well. Malaysia scored two fortunate goals and defended effectively towards the end of the match. That was ultimately why they defeated us.”
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