The Philippine Azkals are grouped with Afghanistan, Laos, and Turkmenistan in Group B of the AFC Challenge Cup. The eight- team event is currently held in the paradise island of Maldives in South Asia. The game between the Philippine Azkals and Afghanistan will kick-off at around 11:30 PM tonight (PST).
Stephan Schrock in Maldives (Photo Credit: Ace Bright Instagram)
The Azkals will face the confident South Asian Champion Afghanistan, the team that detroned India in the 2013 SAFF Championship. The Philippines through their head coach Thomas Dooley revealed some of their game plan against Afghanistan’s national football team.
The Philippines considered the AFC Challenge Cup as their most important tournament this year as the team will try to make a shot at making history. The team started with climb out of a tough Group B against Afghanistan, the highest-ranked FIFA team in the competition.
The Azkals buildup over the past 14 months since their qualification has been geared toward the AFC Challenge Cup, the last ticket of emerging football team in Asia to the prestigious Asian Cup in 2015 to be hosted by Australia.
According to Coach Thomas Dooley, the tournament is the team’s toughest challenge nowadays. The Azkals will be looking forward to surpass their third place finish in 2012.
Azkals Team Manager Dan Palami is also confident with his boys to make it to the semi-finals and ultimately the finals of the tournament. The team is nearly complete, as Coach Dooley recalled some of the Azkals’ prominent Euro-based players to the team.
European-based players are all ready to lead the team featuring Fil-German superstar Stephan Schrock who currently played for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt. Aside from Schrock, other Euro-based players includes Neil Etheridge, Roland Muller, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara.
The only international player who will not be playing for the Philippine Azkals is the former Malaga-based Filipino-Spanish player Javier Patino who currently played with Thai Premier Club Buriram.
Coach Thomas Dooley will also miss team skipper Rob Gier and Phil Younghusband who were both suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards and a red card respectively from the qualifying campaign in Manila last year.
In the absence of Rob Gier, Juani Guirado has been picked to replace him, while Jerry Lucena is expected to fill the centerback position.
