Philippine Daily Inquirer
GERMAN coach Michael Weiss faces tough decisions ahead with less than two months before the biggest tournament of his tenure with the Philippine football team.
And the two friendly matches in the Middle East this month will perhaps give him some answers ahead of the AFF Suzuki Cup in Bangkok in November.
The Azkals face Bahrain on Oct. 12 and Kuwait tentatively on Oct. 16 in what is seen as the most crucial stretch of their buildup for the biennial tournament.
The two friendlies are part of the two-week camp for the Azkals, who are hoping to at least match a semifinal finish two years ago.
“I really can’t say at the moment,” said Weiss when asked if the youthful squad that won the Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup will still be the backbone of the Suzuki Cup side.
“We have players in Europe that have quality but sometimes there’s no guarantee, so we really have to take that into consideration.”
The Azkals won the country’s first international crown in 99 years Saturday when they swept all three assignments in the Peace Cup, punctuated by a 3-1 win over Chinese-Taipei.
The tournament saw Weiss unveil new recruits and young players in OJ Porteria, Demitrius Omphroy and Matt Uy, even as he excluded Phil and James Younghusband from the lineup because of commitment issues.
Most of the Europe-based Azkals like Jerry Lucena, Paul Mulders, Stephan Schrock and goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, also missed the tournament because of club commitments.
Because of the absence of Etheridge and Roland Muller, Ed Sacapano played all three matches in the tournament.
Weiss hinted that Sacapano could end up starting for the Suzuki Cup as Etheridge could be unavailable after Fulham loaned him to English fourth-division Bristol Rovers.
In fact, only three players from the regular starting eleven—Chieffy Caligdong, Denis Wolf and Carli de Murga—were part of the lineup in most of the Peace Cup matches.
Weiss threw the status of the Younghusband brothers up in the air, saying that it is still not the time to answer questions on their possible inclusion in the squad for the Suzuki Cup.
“It’s a very tricky situation and I can’t answer that, but they are still part of the pool,” he said.
basta ako ke me import o wala basta manalo kau ok lang. Tangalin nio ang mga pasikat di kailangan mga yan. Di kawalan ang mga tisoy maraming tisoy jan sa tabi tabi
ReplyDeleteThe popularity of these players like the Younghusbands, Caligdong, Araneta, Etheridge, etc. are attributed to the feat of the NT at the Suzuki cup. I mean as the team.
ReplyDeleteThey should look back from where they started. I would like for them to give back their allegiance and time to the NT until they cannot play anymore. But that is just my opinion.
I hope the YHs will play and would give their utmost commitment to the NT same with the other players.
Just my humble opinion.
For our possible line-up:
ReplyDeleteNiel
Muller
Sacapano
Sabio,Juani,Gier,Anton
De Murga,Aly,
James,Lucena,Mulder,Strock
Bahaduran,Cagara, Omphroy,De Jong
Phil,Wolf
Angel,Calegdong
IF All of those players are "AVAILABLE" for the whole duration of the AFF SUZUKI CUP 2012 we are much confident and sure that we can get the title and still we had time to re-organized and warm-up for their cohesion and game-plan strategy ...this is the much awaited Philippine AZKAL team in Philippine Football history...dont waste the time.....No time for some issues now, the priority is to send the Best Potential players...for the win...
a nice line up....i also would like to see all of them playing. maybe add Ray Jonsson as well....but unfortunately we won't see this line up in the AFC Suzuki cup.....Schrock won't come that'S quite sure, Etheridge as well...same maybe for Lucena and or Cagara.....but there's a slight chance for them. Angel has probably also club committments. Mulders is maybe possible as he is not playing (or playing that much for his club). Phil & James...hm, we will need them and they are aslo availbel...but when I hear the talking from the coach I don't think they will play....seems like the towel is torn between them....but who knows? Maybe they get back to them when the middle east tour becomes a desaster.....
DeleteOh I think the coach was just trying to send a message to the YH brothers. Nobody wants prima donna coaches who sit out star players in big matches. Remember that he wants to move up in his profession and the Philippines is just another stop on the way. He knows that he needs the YH brothers but he wants them to know who is boss.
ReplyDeleteThe YH brothers are smart enough to realize that coach won't be there forever, so they just have to show that they are still dedicated team players while they wait for the next coach to come along.