The Filipinos had a jittery start and played shakily in the second half, but still managed to end the game in a scoreless draw Wednesday against Burma to advance into the semifinals at the Hien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh, Vietnam.

But the team can’t host a semifinal game for lack of a decent stadium in the Philippines.

The Azkals actually closed their campaign in the preliminaries with two draws and a victory—a stunning 2-0 upset of defending champion Vietnam for a total of five points and second behind the hosts, who booted out Singapore, 1-0, also on Wednesday.

Needing nothing less than a win to advance to the semis, the Vietnamese did just that to top the four-nation-meet with six points, while the Singaporeans, whom the Azkals held to a 1-1 draw, bowed out of contention with four points.

Burma had one point from the draw and finished last.

The Azkals’ march into the semis was the first in Philippine football history in the Southeast Asian men’s football championship in 14 years.

Organizers, though, barred the Philippines from hosting a leg or a home match because of the lack of an adequate stadium.

“The Philippines will not be able to play a leg of their semifinal or subsequent final at a home venue due to no available stadium in the country meeting the requirements for the AFF Suzuki Cup,” the AFF said in a statement posted on the official Suzuki Cup website.

The decision was done “after careful consideration and talks with the relevant parties,” the AFF added.

‘The Philippine Football Federation agreed they will be allowed to choose to play one leg of their semifinal at a neutral venue or both legs in the country of their opposition,” it added.

This proved detrimental to the bid of the nationals, who drew Group A topnotcher and soccer powerhouse Indonesia as their foes in the semifinals that kick off on Dec. 16.

Unless the ruling is changed, the Filipinos have no choice but to host their “home” game in an AFF-member country which has not made the semis or play both matches in Indonesia.

“We appealed to the AFF earlier through our national team manager Dan Palami, who was in Vietnam, to reconsider its decision but our plea fell on deaf ears,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta in a statement.

“We are preparing the Pana-ad Football Stadium in the Bacolod City for this eventuality, and we believe that it would meet the standards set by the AFF,” Araneta said, referring to the facility which served as the venue for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games men’s football competitions.