AFF SUZUKI CUP 2016 : GROUPING KNOWN AFTER THE DRAW

The groupings for the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup was known after the draw was finished tonight. This year's group stage will be co-hosted by Myanmar and the Philippines. The draw was made in Myanmar tonight.

The participants were drawn from 4 pots. Pot 1 contain the 2 host countries - Myanmar and the Philippines. This will also determine where the groups will play their group stage games. The other pot pairings are based on their performance in the past AFF Suzuki Cup championships. Pot 2 contains Malaysia and defending champions Thailand. Pot 3 contains Singapore and Vietnam. Pot 4 contains Indonesia and the winner from the qualifier (either Brunei, Cambodia, Laos or Timor Leste). Each country will be drawn either to group A or B so the countries in the same pot will not be drawn together in a group.

The grouping is as follows as posted in the AFF Suzuki Cup official Twitter page :

Here it is! The complete draw for the #AFFSuzukiCup2016! pic.twitter.com/EKsebZv7Ue

— AFF Suzuki Cup (@affsuzukicup) August 2, 2016

I think the Philippines has been drawn into the harder group - with defending champs Thailand, former champions Singapore and Indonesia.

The group matches will be played in Yangon and in Bocaue / Manila on November 19 - 26, 2016.

UPDATE :

Here is the schedule of games for the Philippine Azkals, all games will be played at the Philippine Stadium in Bulacan :

November 19 - vs Singapore
November 22 - vs Indonesia
November 25 - vs Thailand

AZKALS BLANKS INDONESIA, ADVANCES TO THE SEMIS OF THE 2014 AFF SUZUKI CUP

The Philippine Azkals completed another historic win by a 4 - 0 rout of neighbor Indonesia in the group stage of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup. This marks the first time that the Philippine side beat Indonesia after 8 long decades.

The first goal was from a penalty kick in the 16th minute. This is the only gal scored before half time. At the second half, the Azkals was relentless with 3 more goals from Manny Ott (52'), Martin Steuble (68') and Rob Gier (79'). The Indonesia side was not able to provide an answer up to the closing whistle.

With this win, Azkals is the first team to advance to the semis of this tournament and will play a home and an away game next month.

Here are the highlights of the game from the AFF Suzuki Cup YouTube channel :

azkals wins first assignment in the 2014 aff suzuki cup

the philippine azkals convincingly won its first assignment versus the laos side in its first assignment in the 2014 aff suzuki cup.

it was actually laos who drew first blood, with a great free kick finding its way to the back of the net at the 20th minute. but it was azkals game all the way after that. simone rota provided the equalizer with a header at the 40th minute, followed by phil younghusband's goal at the 45th minute for the lead after the first half.

in the second half, laos cannot answer back and patrick reichelt added 2 more goals, both from assists from phil younghusband.

here are the highlights of the match from the aff suzuki cup youtube channel:

with this win, the azkals secured the number 1 spot in group a after indonesia and vietnam settled for a draw in their match. the azkals will face indonesia on tuesday and vietnam on friday. the top 2 teams in the 2 groups will advance to the knockout stage.