DESPITE the sidelining of Simone Rota and Patrick Reichelt to injuries, football chief Mariano Araneta Jr. and national team manager are confident the Philippine Azkals will remain competitive in the Asean Football Federation Cup in November.
In a span of a week, defender Rota and winger Reichelt, who are both playing for Global and Ceres FC, respectively, in the United Football League, went down with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, virtually keeping them out of the Suzuki Cup.
Both players were left at home when the Filipino booters left Manila last Saturday to play Kyrgyzstan in a friendly match tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek..
But Dr. Randy Molo, the national team’s orthopedic surgeon, remained hopeful about Rota’s status after initial findings showed that his ACL was not worse as feared.
“We will still have an MRI of the injury to gauge its extent,” he said.
“We have more depth now in our national pool so we have quality players who can step up and replace Simone and Patrick,” noted the Philippine Football Federation president. “Our team won’t be pushovers even without them.”
Araneta pointed out the presence of Martin Steuble, who can fill in the shoes of the Filipino-Italian defensive specialist.
“Of course both Simone and Patrick are quality players. However, it isn’t cause for panic like in the past when their absence would be critical,” said Palami, “We have enough replacements in our present pool to fill their absence.”
The team manager bared that one option being discussed by the coaching staff led by American mentor Thomas Dooley would be to revert midfielder James Younghusband to the back row.
Dooley has already tried using the elder of the Younghusband siblings as a defender on past occasions.
Striker Phil Younghusband also said that, while the Azkals would miss the services of both regulars “we do have a lot of depth on our team right now. We remain a strong squad with our present roster.”
The Filipinos are in tough Group A of the Suzuki Cup in the company of defending champion Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, which will be back in action in international play after its ban was lifted by FIFA last April.
The Azkals aim to maximize their hometown advantage when they kick off their campaign against Singapore on Nov. 19 at the Philippines Sports Stadium in Bocaue Bulacan, followed by the Nov. 22 meeting with the Indonesians before closing out on Nov. 25 versus the Thais.