Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — With a little over a week before their crucial World Cup Qualifying fixture against Yemen, the Philippine Azkals have started their preparations for the match in earnest.
After drawing North Korea and losing out to Bahrain in the last round of games, Azkals Head Coach Thomas Dooley is no stranger to the significance of their meeting with Yemen.
“It’s a must win game because mentally, we have three months before the next game in Uzbekistan, and it depends on how North Korea and Uzbekistan plays in the next two games," said Dooley.
"We know what we have to do against Uzbekistan to stay alive. The last thing is that, we have to win the game to be still in the race.”
Suspended captain
The Philippines will be without the services of team captain Phil Younghusband for the game, who misses out due to suspension for accumulated yellow cards.Despite the absence of the team’s leading goalscorer, Dooley expects the rest of the squad to step up.
“If a starter is missing, it's always a little bit of an issue," said the Azkals coach. "But on the other hand we have 23 unique players and if somebody doesn’t play and he has to play now."
"That’s his chance to show what he can contribute to the team.”
The Philippines currently lies in third place of Group H of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers, accumulating just seven points in five games played.
The Azkals will look to improve on its standing in when it faces off against Yemen at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on November 12.
http://cnnphilippines.com/sports/2015/11/05/World-Cup-Qualifiers-Philippine-Azkals-Yemen-Dooley.html
"World Cup hopes alive" lol!
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest with ourselves. The Philippines is not qualifying for a World Cup, especially the 2018 edition!
that's not actually the point.
Deletesa totoo lng hindi mapamahal sa masang Pilipino ang Azkals dahil hindi ma relate ng karamihan kung bakit majority ay fil foreigner. Only Football enthusiast will like them which is only a handful sa buong Pilipinas.
ReplyDeleteyour talking about the Masa the Aldub worshipping legions and the rest love of teams admirers, teleseryes,k-pop and 1d fanatics. wag mo sila pansinin trip nila yung mga ganun
ReplyDeleteour national football squad is not targeting the present generation...hindi mo na mababago ang hilig nila lalo na dito sa centralize region ng Republic of Imperial Manila..
they are promoting the sport to the young generations of kids and toddlers na nasa formative stage and nagsisimulang mag aral ng football..
aside from NBA those pinoy childrens loves to watch Bundesliga,danish superliga,Dutch eredivise,EPL,la liga and UEFA champions league.
Azkals never targeting current PBA and PSL fandom..
is not numbers hindi nakasalalay sa laki ng fanbase o fandom yan.... honestly homegrown football fans is continues growing lalo na sa mga kabataan at mga bata.
anyway Philippines is melting pot hindi lang puro natives ang nakatira d2 marami ding Expats,immigrants,amerasians and fil-foreigners...
at least football enthusiast is genuine and real fans not a seasonal bandwagon fandoms from centralize region of Imperial Republic of NCR.
not 2018 maybe 2022 or 2026 or beyond....football is very competitive maraming magagaling na national squad sa Asian region kaya from Slim to none para maka advance sa next round ng WC qualifiers ang Azkals.
ReplyDeletekahit AFC mahihirapan pa ang Pilipinas mag qualify mas magandang experience and exposure ang qualifiers in preparation sa next AFF suzuki cup next year and sa 2017 sea games para kila Sato and Amani Aguinaldo.