The Philippine national football team ended their Middle East tour after the Qantas Australia Under-23 squad defeated them 1-0 in Dubai.

Several changes were made to the squad with Neil Etheridge starting in the match, and Younghusband brothers returning to Manila due to prior commitments. Philippine Air Force striker Ian Araneta started up front along with Denis Wolf, and Global FC's Misagh Bahadoran started on the left wing.

Australia started strong in the first half, dominating possession and constantly being a threat within the Azkals' penalty area.

The lone goal of the match did not last long as Australia grabbed the lead in the 9th minute courtesy of Olyroos skipper Jason Hoffman after Juan Luis Guirado's headed clearance only found Hoffman open who headed it to the back of the net.

The Olyroos continued to dominate possesion throughout the first half as the Azkals struggled up front despite getting some decent defensive stops from the central defense partnership of Jason Sabio and Guirado.

Prior to the second half, Coach Michael Weiss made a change with Stallion FC skipper Ruben Doctora Jr. replacing Araneta.

But Australia continued their dominance in the midfield but the Azkals remained reslient and began showing some signs of improvement in the interval most notably when Etheridge made a save as a shot from an Olyroos player almost seemed to enter the top corner only to be denied with a fingertip save from the Fulham goalkeeper.

Two further substitions for the Azkals, Joshua Beloya entering the match for Bahadoran, and Lexton Moy replacing Marwin Angeles, made it a more open game as the Azkals became determined to score an equalizer.

Beloya almost scored the equalizer late in the match after Moy found him open inside the penalty area, only for his shot to sail over the crossbar. Likewise, Carli de Murga found Denis Wolf running in the right flank, only to be stopped in the penalty area after storming past the Australian defense.

The result saw the Azkals end with a 1-0-2 (win-draw-loss) record as they finalize their preparations for the AFC Challenge Cup. They will next face 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup champions Malaysia in an International Friendly on February 29 as their last match before the Challenge Cup.