THE Philippine men’s football team will continue with its bid to make it back to the AFC Asian Cup without Albert Capellas, the Spaniard coach who has revitalized the program.
Mr. Capellas, who steered the Pinoy booters to a famous semifinal appearance in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations championship last year highlighted by a historic first-leg victory over Thailand, has left the squad due to unspecified reasons.
His assistant and compatriot Carles Cuadrat takes over in the interim.
And Mr. Cuadrat, who previously worked with the Saudi Arabia and El Salvador national teams, Barcelona Youth and East Bengal FC, gets to work right away with the Filipinos set to play Tajikistan on June 10 at the New Clark Stadium at the resumption of the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
“Personal reasons have led to Albert’s departure. Out of great respect for him, we will not elaborate. We are grateful for his service, and wish him well,” Philippine Football Federation director of senior national football teams Freddy Gonzalez said.
Despite Mr. Capellas’ unexpected departure, Mr. Gonzalez expects little adjustment given Mr. Cuadrat’s familiarity with the program started by his predecessor.
“Albert (Capellas) left us with a blueprint to follow and we thank him for bringing Carles (Cuadrat) on board, enabling him to be the interim head coach and provide continuity for what Albert has started,” said Mr. Gonzalez.
“Now is the time to focus on the match with Tajikistan and push to be top of the group and focus on qualifying for the Asian Cup,” he added. — Olmin Leyba
