Weiss presents case for defence

Kathmandu: Philippines coach Michael Weiss is hoping that newcomer Eduardo Sacapano will have a relatively trouble-free Challenge Cup Finals debut thanks to a solid defence in Monday's third-place play-off against Palestine.

The Philippines Army stopper will be making his first appearance in Nepal to replace suspended first-choice keeper Neil Etheridge, who misses out on the Azkals' finals match after being red-carded two minutes into stoppage-time of the 2-1 semi-final defeat to Turkmenistan following an off-the-ball incident with goal scorer Gahryman Chonkayev.

"Apart from the last ten minutes against Turkmenistan our defence has been quite stable and I hope it will be the same tomorrow so that Sacapano doesn't have much work to do," Weiss said at the pre-match press conference.

At 31, Sacapano is not exactly a novice but he has been benefiting from practicing alongside goalkeepers with experience at clubs in Europe in the shape of Etheridge, an understudy to Australia international Mark Schwarzer at English Premier League side Fulham, and Roland Muller, who is with German second division side MSV Duisburg.

Sacapano has been with us at the training camps in the build-up to the Challenge Cup and has done well," continued Weiss.

"He has been learning a lot from Neil and from another Germany-based keeper Roland Muller."

In addition to the introduction of Sacapano, Weiss welcomes back key players James Younghusband and Angel Guirado, both suspend for the semi-final, while Jason Sabio returns from injury as the Philippines look to end on a high.

"We have come a long way and at the start of the tournament nobody gave us much of a chance," said the former Kyoto Purple Sanga and China U-20s assistant coach.

"With our friendlies at our training camps and our match with Malaysia in Manila we have played nine games in little over a month and the team is shaping up very well.

"This has been a good tournament for us and we are taking the third-place match very seriously. We see this as our final and we will do our best to bring pride and glory to the country."


afc.com