Philippine Daily Inquirer
As the AFF Suzuki Cup draws near, the
strength of the opposition in its buildup also gets stronger for the
Philippines.
The Azkals, buoyed by the return of
experienced players, face a formidable Bahrain side in a friendly Friday at the
Al-Muharraq Stadium in Manama, Bahrain.
The match slated at 6:30 p.m. (12 midnight
Saturday in Manila) caps the five-day Azkals’ camp hosted by the Bahrain
Football Association.
The Azkals, who are grouped with Thailand,
Vietnam and the top qualifier in Group A of the Suzuki Cup next month, will fly
to Kuwait on Saturday to continue their preparations, before facing the Kuwaitis
on Oct. 16 for their first meeting since their World Cup Qualifying clash last
year.
The Azkals already played Bahrain’s
Under-23 side twice in their preparation for the World Cup Qualifying match
against Kuwait last year, but lost twice without their key players.
Bahrain came within a win of reaching the
2010 World Cup, losing only to New Zealand in a playoff, and was seeded straight
to the third round of the Asian qualifying stage for the 2014 tournament.
“We’re happy that the team is getting the
chance to play a quality opponent in Bahrain,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.
“The team can only learn from this experience which we hope will come in handy
in the Suzuki Cup.”
Phil and James Younghusband have been
ruled out of the clash because of a scheduling conflict, forcing the Philippine
Football Federation to fly them straight to Kuwait on Friday.
Coach Michael Weiss has depth on his side
following the return of Europe-based Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena, Dennis Cagara,
Roland Muller, Rob Gier, Juani Guirado and Ray Jonsson.
Will these friendlies be televised? What channel?
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