31 July 2011

Philippine ‘Azkals’ brace for stricter training regimen

THREE days after Kuwait’s Al Azraqs ended the Philippines’ campaign to enter the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, ‘Azkals’ German coach Hans Michael Weiss announced that his wards would undergo a stricter training program.


“Everybody will be very busy after August. I guess it’s time to put up the guys to another kind of training level, which is going to be stricter unlike our previous trainings. I don’t have anything against the players but that’s the way it should be,” Weiss told the Manila Times.

Weiss did not reveal the specifics of the new training program but stressed that disciplinary actions would be imposed on players who would fail to follow the rules.

“All my players are very responsible, good and talented, but there are times you need to tighten up the rules since they know how hard it is to play football internationally,” said Weiss, who is scheduled to return to Germany for a brief vacation.

Azkals team manager Dan Palami agreed that a more rigid training program is needed if the Azkals are to soar to greater heights of success, “Nine months ago, who would think we’d engage Kuwait in the World Cup qualifier? Coach Weiss has made miracles for the ‘Azkals’ but he’s not Jesus Christ to make all miracles happen. The team needs more time and we’d be stricter,” Palami said.

Weiss’ coaching contract with the Azkals is still good for one-and-a-half year and he promised the Philippine Football Federation as well as Filipino football fans that they would see a lot of improvements from the team during that period.

The training of the Philippine ‘Azkals’ will resume late August in preparation for the Long Teng Cup in September and the Indonesia 26th Southeast Asian Games in November.


Manila Times

3 comments:

  1. This is how it should be if they want to go up to another level. In Germany, their 2nd Division teams practice 3 times a day that's is why they are so good.

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  2. it's about time ... finally !!!

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  3. "In Germany, their 2nd Division teams practice 3 times a day that's is why they are so good."

    Your talking about club football and that's considered normal for professional clubs especially at a good level like the German 2nd division.

    In this case, it's a national team that's being talked about. You can't expect to train for long periods with frequent sessions daily. A national team is not a club team. Although for the Philippines NT, the way it's being run especially with Palami as team manager, it's becoming like a club team which is stupid to say the least.

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