Philippine Azkals head coach Thomas Dooley brought in a new face in the coaching staff of the Philippine national football team, deputy coach and Portuguese Bruno Baltazar as part of the country’s preparation in the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup to be held in Maldives.
The 36-year-old Bruno Baltazar formerly played as a central defender during his playing career, he also served as head coach of Atlético Clube de Portugal II Liga and Sport União Sintrense III Div before his inclusion to the Philippine team.
The Lisbon-born footballer joined the former US Men’s Soccer Team Captain and new Azkals coach Thomas Dooley as the team wrapped up their training camp in the Middle East particularly in Doha, Qatar.
In Qatar the Philippine Azkals is scheduled to face the National Football Team of Nepal in an international friendly match. The Azkals will also face Al Ahly club of the Middle East. The game will be held on Friday and Monday respectively.
The Middle East training camp of the Philippine Azkals is part of the country’s build-up for the May 19-30 Challenge Cup in Maldives as the team hope to capture the title and earned the much-coveted slot in the 2015 Asian Cup will be held in Australia in 2015.
The Philippine Azkals wanted to secure their first victory on their training camp in Qatar after they settled for a scoreless draw with Malaysia and yielding a 0-1 defeat against higher-ranked Azerbaijan during their previous matches.
