THE Philippine Azkals struggled against a battle-tested Uzbekistan’s Olympic under-23 team, 0-3, in their tune-up match in Al Nasr Club in Dubai Saturday (early Sunday morning in Manila).

Azkals’ Fil-German goalkeeper Roland Muller was kept busy all-game long by the offensive-minded Uzbeks, who took a 2-0 halftime lead on goals by Kenja Turaev in the 11th minute and Ivan Nagaev in the 42nd.

Nagaev then struck again in the 65th to seal the win for the host. 

With some Azkals either unavailable or nursing injuries, the coaching staff was forced to put players in positions they are not used to playing.

Despite the loss, coach Michael Weiss knows the Azkals have learned a lot from playing against Uzbekistan.

The Azkals are preparing for next month’s AFC Challenge Cup to be held in Nepal.

“I think we faced a strong Uzbekistan, side but our objective was mainly to learn and develop our homegrown players who don’t have the opportunity to play this level of opposition in their local leagues,” said Weiss in an interview with Sport360.com.

The Azkals will take on Al Ahli SC from Doha, Qatar tomorrow, before capping their camp with a meeting against Australia’s Qantas Under-23 on Friday.

“We want to reach a higher level and we are happy to be here and playing some fantastic sides,” said Weiss.

“It is a defeat that doesn’t harm us because we are planning to be strong on March 9 in our opening match (against North Korea),” he added.

The Philippines start its Challenge Cup campaign against Group B rival North Korea on March 9, and Weiss said his main motive in its match against the Uzbeks was to see how well his side has integrated.