Wanted: Higher-rated foe for Azkals

By: Cedelf P. Tupas

WITH the Philippine Azkals unable to find an opponent for a friendly match in the next international break, coach Thomas Dooley will hold a training camp for his expanded pool that will include Under-22 standouts in the first week of June.

The Azkals are preparing for the group stage of the prestigious AFF Suzuki Cup, which the country will host for the first time from Nov. 19 to 26 at Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan.

Dooley wanted to face an opponent ranked higher than the No. 115 Azkals during the international window, but the Philippine Football Federation said teams in the coach’s radar have already scheduled matches with other countries.

Syria was supposed to play the Azkals in the first week of June, but football officials of the war-torn country informed the PFF last month that it was no longer pursuing the match.

Azkals manager Dan Palami is looking at the positive side of the team’s predicament.

“At least, we can get a closer look at some fresh talent that could make an impact on the team,” said Palami.

The Azkals are setting their sights on a first Suzuki Cup crown, after three straight semifinal appearances, starting in 2010 in Vietnam.

PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta earlier confirmed two friendly matches against Kyrgyzstan with the Azkals traveling to Bishkek for a game on Sept. 16.

The Azkals will host the second friendly in Manila on Nov. 9.

Read more: http://sports.inquirer.net/212928/wanted-higher-rated-foe-for-azkals#ixzz49EVyPiqP

South China AA heads for Bacolod Sunday for knockout match vs. Ceres

The Hong Kong-based South China Athletic Association football team is scheduled to arrive Sunday in Bacolod City, two days before the single- knockout match against home team Cere-La Salle Football Club in the Round of 16 of the AFC Cup 2016 at the Panaad Stadium.

South China qualified into the Round of 16 after finishing No. 2 in Group G of the group stages behind No. 1 team Mohun Bagan of India. The team absorbed three straight losses in the group but managed to bounce back by winning their last three games to finish with 9 points.

The team from Hong Kong opened their campaign with a 1-2 away loss against Yangon United of Myanmar, and was overpowered by Mohun Bagan, 0-4, at their own home pitch at Mongkok Stadium in Hong Kong.

Their third match in the group stages against Maziya Sports and Recreation of Maldives ended 2-1 in favor of the Maldivians.

South China, however, got their grooves back as they posted back-to-back home victories, 2-0 against Maziya and 2-1 against Yangon United. They clinched a spot into the knockout stages after a 3-0 away win against Mohun Bagan at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

Meanwhile, the members of the Ceres-La Salle team are coming home to Bacolod City today after claiming back-to-back wins of their own in the ongoing UFL League, 6-0 against the Nomads on May 14 and 10-1 against the Agila on Wednesday.

The Busmen were undefeated in the group stages where they emerged No. 1 in Group E. After settling for a 2-2 draw against the Selangor FA at the Panaad Stadium, the team beat home team Lt. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi in Bangladesh, 2-0, then escaped with a 1-1 draw against Tampines Rovers in Singapore.

A 2-1 win against Tampines at the Panaad Stadium catapulted the team to the top of the group and the scoreless draw in Kuala Lumpur against Selangor virtually ushered the squad to the Round of 16.

The Bacolod City-based squad formalized their entry into the knockout stages after dominating the Bangladeshi-squad, 5-0, at the Panaad Stadium.*

NAB

 http://www.visayandailystar.com/2016/May/20/sportnews1.htm

Ceres Cup breaks another participation record

By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

In 2014, the first year of the Ceres Cup, 300 teams joined in the inaugural football festival. The following year, the number rose to 400. This year, there are an expected 420 teams set to take part between May 21 and 22 at Ceres FC North Field, Sta. Maria Field, and Carlos Hilado Memorial State College Field – all in Talisay City.
Ceres-La Salle FC owner Leo Rey Yanson says the event is aimed at providing football enthusiasts the opportunity to foster and exhibit sportsmanship in a competitive, safe, and friendly environment. It also seeks to encourage and promote football development in Negros Occidental.
Categories to be played on May 21 include boys/girls or mixed 9 years old, boys 11 years old, boys 14 years old, girls 13 years old, ladies 19 years old, men 21 years old, and men 40 years old.
Meanwhile, on May 22, categories to be played include boys/girls or mixed 10 years old, boys 12 years old, girls 15 years old, boys 18 years old, Men’s and Women’s Open.
The event has gained recognition from FIFA and the ASEAN Football Confederation after it was presented by FIFA Marketing and TV Committee member and Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella.
Spearheading the staging of the tournament is Club Administrator Nicolas Golez as Organizing Committee chairman and Competitions Director Warren Concepcion./WDJ

Nations learn AFC U-19 Women’s Championship qualifying fate

Kuala Lumpur: A host of nations discovered the teams standing between themselves and a ticket to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship 2017 finals when the competition’s official qualifying draw was held in Malaysia on Thursday.

Teams: Australia, Thailand (expressed an interest to host), Uzbekistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Vietnam (expressed an interest to host), Jordan, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei, Palestine, India, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Philippines and Tajikistan (expressed an interest to host).
The top four teams in the 2015 edition of the AFC U-19 Championship in China – Japan DPR Korea, Korea Republic and China PR – received a direct qualification to the tournament leaving the 18 teams above to battle it out in the qualifiers. The seedings for the draw were based on the rankings of China 2015 while teams who did not take part in 2015 will be unranked.
Draw Result
Group A: A1 Australia A2 Jordan A3 Lebanon A4 Singapore A5 Northern Mariana Islands
Group B: B1 Uzbekistan B2 Chinese Taipei B3 Hong Kong B4 Tajikistan (hosts) B5 Pakistan
Group C: C1 Thailand (hosts) C2 Myanmar C3 Palestine C4 Kyrgyzstan
Group D: D1 Islamic Republic of Iran D2 Vietnam (hosts) D3 India D4 Philippines
Each group will play a one-round league in a centralised venue and the winner from each group (total four teams) will qualify to the finals (eight teams in total).
Match Schedule
For Groups with four teams:
Matchday 1: 1v4, 2v3
Matchday 2: 4v2, 3v1
Matchday 3: 1v2, 3v4
For Groups with five teams:
Matchday 1: 3v2, 5v4
Matchday 2: 4v1, 5v3
Matchday 3: 1v5, 2v4
Matchday 4: 2v5, 3v1
Matchday 5: 4v3, 1v2
The qualifiers will be held from October 29 to November 6, 2016.


http://www.the-afc.com/nations-learn-afc-u-19-women%E2%80%99s-championship-qualifying-fate

No friendlies for Azkals in June ?

No news about friendlies for Azkals in June .


One or two friendlies was scheduled for June , one of them was Bacolod going to host on June 7


PFF said that Syria was going to play Philippines in June , but they will be playing in King's Cup in Thailand in Early June.


PFF also said that Iraq and Bahrain has been invited but still no friendly has been confirmed.

AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2017 qualifiers

Kuala Lumpur: The official draw for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2017 qualifiers was concluded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.

Teams: Korea Republic, Uzbekistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh (hosts), Vietnam (hosts), Philippines, Jordan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Guam, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palestine, Singapore and Thailand (hosts)


The top four teams from the last edition – DPR Korea, Japan, China PR and Thailand (who expressed a desire to also play in the qualifiers) – have directly qualified for the finals. The seedings for the U-16 women’s competition draw were based on the rankings in the 2015 edition held in China.




Group B: B1 Korea Republic B2 India B3 Philippines B4 Malaysia B5 Northern Mariana Islands B6 Lebanon



Match Schedue
Matchday 1: 3v1, 4v6, 2v5
Matchday 2: 1v5, 2v4, 3v6
Matchday 3: 5v3, 6v2, 1v4
Matchday 4: 4v5, 6v1, 2v3
Matchday 5: 5v6, 3v4, 1v2
The winner from each group (total four teams) will qualify to the finals (eight teams in total). If Thailand finish top of their group in the qualifiers, the second-placed team from the same group will also qualify to the final competition.


The qualifiers will be played from August 27 to September 4, 2016.            

http://www.the-afc.com/u-16-womens-championship-2017/afc-u-16-championship-draw-concluded-in-kuala-lumpur

UFL Wednesday - updated

Laos forgoes morning kickoff against GAU

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Green Archers United was credited with a 3-0 win after Laos failed to show up in their supposed UFL clash at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Sunday.

Scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. kickoff, Laos opted to forgo their match-up with GAU, effectively giving the latter the victory.

The reason behind Laos' forfeiture is unknown as of posting.

This is the second time GAU got a forfeiture win this season. Curiously, the first came against Laos' sister team Global when the latter's UFL Cup win was overturned because they fielded an excessive number of foreign players in the said game.

- See more at: http://www.dugout.ph/2016/05/laos-forgoes-morning-kickoff-against-gau.html#sthash.dIAf7u1S.dpuf