Big Suzuki win for the Philippines

Ian Araneta starred as the Philippines handed Timor Leste a 5-0 thumping at the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying round in Laos on Friday.

Araneta bagged a hat-trick of headers, and his sublime display, coupled with a penalty from former Chelsea ace Philip Younghusband and a strike from Anton Del Rosario gave the Pinoys an ideal start to their qualification campaign ahead of the main event in December.

Not surprisingly, Philippines coach Simon McMenemy was a happy man after the comprehensive win.
"I'm very satisfied with our performance," he told the tournament's official website.
"The way we played was similar to what we had practiced in training.

"And it will give us plenty of confidence going into our next match against Laos."

In the second match of the day, host nation Laos failed to capitalise on home advantage as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Cambodia.

In a game of missed chances, Kaysone Soukhavong hit the crossbar for Laos, while Kouch Sokumpheak also struck the woodwork for Cambodia.

The four teams are competing for two spots at December's ASEAN gathering in Vietnam and Indonesia.

The top placed team from the qualifying tournament will face Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while the runners-up will go into Group B where they will play Vietnam, Singapore and Myanmar.

The qualification process continues on Sunday when Cambodia tackle Timor Leste and Laos play the Philippines.
Both games will be held at the National Sports Complex in Vientiane.