The Philippine Azkals revised the line-up of the national team after goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and midfielder Paul Mulders confirmed that they will not be available for the Azkals on the team’s friendly match against Azerbaijan next week.
The 24-year-old Neil Etheridge suffered a thigh injury last December 2013 as confirmed by Fulham, his Premier League team. The Filipino-British goalkeeper also signed another loan deal with English third tier side Crewe Alezandra FC.
Meanwhile Azkals’ midfielder Paul Mulders sustained an injury during the past weeks. The Filipino-Dutch footballer is a member of the SC Cambuur, a first Division soccer team.
With the absence of Neil Etheridgge, the Azkals fans were expecting veteran goalkeeper Ed Sacapaño of Philippine Army-General Trias International FC to secure the spot left by Etheridge as the no. 1 goalkeeper but he was also omitted from the final roster.
Newly-(–foul word(s) removed–)igned head coach of the Philippine Azkals, Thomas Dooley added Patrick Deyto of the Green Archers United as goalkeeper while Stallion’s Gilligan’s defender Simone Rota was also added in the line-up of the Azkals in the upcoming international friendly matches against Malaysia on Saturday and Azerbaijan on March 5, 2014.
The Philippine Azkals squad will be lead by veteran defender Rob Gier brothers Phil and James Younghusband, Marwin Angeles, Amani Aguinaldo, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Jason De Jong, Mark Hartmann, Chris Greatwich, OJ Porteria, Patrick Reichelt and Juani Guirado.
The national football team will also feature some returning players in the squad such as Anton Del Rosario, Simon Greatwich, Ruben Doctora, and Nate Burkey. The team will also debut Kenshiro Daniels, Andrew Liauw, Nick O’Donnel and Martin Steuble.
The Philipine Azkals FIFA-sanctioned international friendlies are part of the national team’s preparation for the prestigious Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in May 2014. The champion team will earn a much-coveted ticket to the prestigious Asian Cup in 2015.