MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine Azkals side that will parade a full complement will play higher-ranked Singapore in a Fifa friendly match next month.
Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta said Singapore (129th in the world) has agreed to meet the Azkals (162nd) on Oct. 7 at the Lions’ turf, giving the Pinoys a chance to test their skills and possibly improve their world ranking.
“Singapore has agreed to do a friendly but instead of having it here, they want it held in Singapore since they have a scheduled Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers third round game on Oct. 11,” Araneta said of Singapore’s positive response to the PFF’s invitation.
“We at the PFF and Azkals coach Michael Weiss are both okay with it so we’ll finalize the arrangement with the Football Association of Singapore,” he added.
The PFF has invited higher-ranked countries like Singapore, Oman, Qatar, and Bangladesh, to play the Azkals anytime from Oct. 6-11, the period designated as “Fifa match calendar days.”
During those dates, clubs all over the world will release players to their respective national teams, allowing the likes of Europe-based Neil Etheridge, Stephan Schrock, Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara to join the Azkals.
“All the players based in Europe will be available, so we’re excited to see the full squad play against a higher ranked team like Singapore,” said Araneta.
Pakistan, ranked 170th, has offered to come over to Manila to tangle with the Azkals on Oct. 9.
“It will be up to Weiss and team management if they would want to play Pakistan after the friendly with Singapore,” Araneta said.
The Azkals are back in training after bowing out of the World Cup Asian preliminaries. They are set to hold camp in Bacolod City this week before competing at the Long Teng Cup in Chinese-Taipei from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.
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3 days ago
So 3 days after the Long Teng Cup they have a friendly in Singapore then two days later another friendly but in Manila? hmmm....
ReplyDeleteIf they play Pakistan on Oct. 9, they should just field mostly the reserves or field the starters sparingly since the starters will be coming from a game 2 days previously. The players participating in the Long Teng Cup will largely be different from those playing in Singapore, as the European contingent will only arrive in time for the Singapore game so fatigue shouldn't be a factor.
ReplyDeleteOur performance against Singapore will dictate how receptive other nations will be towards playing against us in future friendly games, so I hope we do well.
ReplyDeleteDan Palami just posted on facebook that the game against Singapore is on October 6 now.
ReplyDeleteOctober 6... ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteHong Kong on 4th Singapore on 6th Manila on 9th? Only a travel agent could see sense in that.
ReplyDeleteAraneta should tell the FAS to retain the date of the 7th and then play Pakistan on the 10th... it should be spread out a bit.
ReplyDeleteyes, 7. and 10. would be much better...
ReplyDeleteLong Teng Cup starting XI is widely different from Singapore friendly starting XI so a two-day gap is OK.
ReplyDeleteRT @dscpalami: Singapore agrees to play match with Azkals on the 7th. They wntd the game to be initially on the 6th. Gives us time to rest frm Long Teng .
ReplyDelete