30 May 2012
FOOTBALL: Philippines threat
NATIONAL coach K. Rajagobal has rated the Philippines as one of the favourites to win the AFF Cup ahead of their international friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium on Friday.
The Philippines, ranked third in the Fifa rankings among Southeast Asian nations at 148th, were surprise semi-finalists at the 2010 edition, which Malaysia won for the first time.
"The Philippines have several foreign-based players plying their trade in Germany, the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark, England and the United States," said Rajagobal yesterday.
"I believe they will be stronger than their 2010 squad in the AFF Cup. They are a different team with better players."
The Philippines showed their mettle in the AFC Challenge Cup in March by reaching the semi-finals and eventually finishing third.
The team, under German coach Hans Michael Weiss, have between 15 and 18 foreign-based players in their squad, and have become a force in the sport following their decision to allow foreigners with Filipino ancestry to represent them in competitions.
Among those expected to play in Friday's friendly are German-based players Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Denis Wolf and Roland Muller; Rob Gier (England), Ray Jonsson (Iceland), Paul Mulders (the Netherlands) and Juan Guirado (Spain).
Weiss is expected to name a near-full strength squad for Friday's match where he wants his team to record an impressive result to maintain their Fifa ranking.
Malaysia, however, are hoping to do better following their 1-1 draw with the Philippines in Manila three month ago.
Rajagobal was criticised then for not fielding his strongest side but this time round, the coach has called up his best available players as he wants nothing less than a victory on Friday.
"It will not be an easy match. We need to play well to beat them as a good result will boost our confidence for the AFF Cup," Rajagobal added.
Malaysia will also play Singapore in two friendly matches on June 8 and 12 before taking on Arsenal and Manchester City in exhibition matches in July ahead of the AFF Cup.
They have so far played 'A' international matches against Sri Lanka, which they won 6-0, apart from the Philippines earlier this year.
In a warm-up match on Monday, the national team defeated Super League side Felda United 2-1 at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya.
Negri Sembilan's Shahurain Abu Samah and Kedah's Amar Rohidan scored for the national team.
Rajagobal, however, was not too worried of his players' performance as it was only a test match.
New Straits Times
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this means Malaysia VS Phil. match is only a warm-up for the Malaysian team bec. they're up to much bigger opponents like Singapore, then Arsenal and then...."OMG"...Man.CITY!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow...buti pa sila makakalaban nila ang Arsenal at Manchester City (the Champs in the premiere league). Ibang level sila ha.
ReplyDeleteKailan kaya tayo makakalaban sa mga teams na ganung level.
i expect a very strong Malaysian side which will probably beat the Philippine NT on their home turf. I don't agree with the Malay coach....the Philippines can't be considered as one of the favourites for the AFC Suzuki cup. First they have to proof that the last result wasn't a one night sensation and second their excellent oversea players probably won't be available for the tournanment.....and the homebased players aren't yet so strong to field a competive side to reach the final or semifinal
ReplyDeleteIm fully agreed with u. Our local players are not in that standard, in like of Malaysia that their level of play is already known to everyone. To play against top caliber clubs like Arsenal and Man City is not a joke. But at the end, we Filipinos need to support our team and I'm always on their side - win or loose.
DeleteYan din ang assertion nang Indian coach before we played India in the AFC Challenge cup and yet we beat them 2-0. Ayun tanggal sya sa trabaho nya.
ReplyDeleteLast time we almost beat them.
Malakas ang kutob ko na mananalo tayo. We have a very good team.
Why be nervous against a crap team like Malaysia? We are better than them now that Gener, Margarse has been dropped and Araneta pushed further down the bench away from Weiss.
ReplyDeleteImagine what kind of team we will have if Caligdong is gets injured and someone with a brain is named captain on the pitch.
I agree with Anonymous30 May 2012 17:00 about Gener, Margarse, Araneta and Caligdong. Its time to change this players
ReplyDeleteGuys, don't be debby downers. I mean, who would have thought we would get 3rd at AFC? Right? One step at a time, and if we get success, then we should enjoy it instead of being frantic and saying "ooh, that was just lucky".
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you on about?
Delete