By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter
LEADING its group early in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers, the Philippine national men’s football team has put itself in a favorable position to advance to the next round, but work still needs to be done if it is to see its cause through in the prestigious continental tournament.
Currently sporting a 2-0 record and six points in Group F in the final round of the qualifiers, the Philippine Azkals, as the national team is known, resume their campaign on Sept. 5 against second-running Yemen (1-1) at the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City.
The Azkals enter the contest off victories over Nepal, 4-1, on March 28, and Tajikistan, 4-3, on June 13.
Nepal is at third in Group F with a record 0-1-1 and Tajikistan is at fourth at 0-0-2.
Being in a position of leadership early, local football observer and writer Lorenzo del Carmen said that the Thomas Dooley-coached Philippine team has given itself a good leverage to capitalize on.
“It’s always great to start on a winning note but there are still four more games to go. Biggest positive here is that we hold a five-point gap between ourselves and the third-placed team (Nepal) as the top two teams qualify for the group,” said Mr. Del Carmen, who writes for local site Tiebreaker Times, when asked by BusinessWorld for his thoughts on the Azkals as they get back to action in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
“Two more wins would be enough I guess to make it to the next round. We can’t let our guards down though because Yemen, Nepal and Tajikistan are tricky opponents for us. But thankfully our destiny is still in our hands and I think we can be cautiously confident as we still have two more home games,” he added.
With the Azkals’ game up next week, the Philippine Football Federation recently released the names of the players who would see action against Yemen.
The players, majority of whom are seeing action in the Philippines Football League, are Misagh Bahadoran (Global Cebu FC), Dylan De Bruycker (Davao Aguilas FC), Carlos De Murga (Ceres Negros FC), Patrick Deyto (Global Cebu FC), Neil Etheridge (Cardiff City FC) Harry Foll (FC Hansa Rostock), Joshua Grommen (Ceres Negros FC), Kevin Ingreso (Ceres Negros FC), Tyler Matas (FC Meralco Manila), Hikaru Minegishi (Global Cebu FC), Jim Junior Muñoz (Ceres Negros FC) and Paul Mulders (Global Cebu FC).
Also part of the team are Nicholas O’Donnell (Davao Aguilas FC), Manuel Ott (Ceres Negros FC), Mike Rigoberto Ott (Angthong United), Stephan Palla (Wolfsberger AC), Iain Ramsay (Ceres Negros FC), Patrick Reichelt (Ceres Negros FC), Simone Rota (Davao Aguilas FC), Dennis Villanueva (Global Cebu FC), Luke Woodland (Ceres Negros FC), James Younghusband (Davao Aguilas FC) and Phil Younghusband (Davao Aguilas FC)
Mr. Dooley will be assisted by coaches Kurt Kowarz and Chieffy Caligdong.
Mr. Del Carmen said the lineup against Yemen is a competitive lot albeit presents an interesting dynamic with some key players missing for varying reasons as well as the additions in their place.
“I’m curious to see how Dooley will set up his defense. He shuffles between a back four or a three-man backline. Daisuke Sato (cards) and Amani Aguinaldo (injury) are unavailable so the likes of Carli De Murga and Simone Rota have been recalled while young players such as Tyler Matas and Joshua Grommen are given chances to impress,” he said.
“Personally, I’m happy to see Rota back since he was denied the chance to compete in last year’s AFF Suzuki Cup due to an ACL injury. One big worry for me is Javier Patiño’s absence due to injury. He scored in the last two qualifiers and his absence will be a big blow on the offensive end,” Mr. Del Carmen added.
The Philippines-Yemen match in Bacolod City will kick off at 7:30 p.m.
