The Philippine Men’s National Football Team arrived in Kaohsiung in Taiwan last Wednesday for its friendly against Chinese Taipei today. Of the initial list released earlier by the Philippine Football Federation for the tuneup games against Chinese Taipei and Afghanistan this September, several Azkals begged off due to various injuries and other reasons. Fortunately, there are more Azkals ready to pounce on the privilege to play for the flag and country.
Despite this, Coach Hans Michael Weiss would rather concentrate on the players that are with him in Taiwan right now. He also maintained that the absence of several key players will not affect the team’s preparation against Chinese Taipei and against Afghanistan too.
“It will not impact because the players who are not here don’t count. It means I will always focus on the squad that is at my disposal. This is always what is relevant for me when it comes to the national team,” Weiss said.
These latest additions to the squad include Justin Baas, Marwin Angeles, Audie Menzi, Jhan Melliza, Jarvey Gayoso and Dennis Villanueva. They will join Neil Etheridge, Patrick Deyto, Kevin Mendoza, Jesse Curran, Daisuke Sato, John Patrick Strauss, Santiago Rublico, Christian Rontini, OJ Porteria, brothers Mike and Manny Ott, Patrick Reichelt, Bienvenido Maranon, Jens Rasmussen, Carli de Murga, Amani Aguinaldo and Enrique Linares.
Missing in Taiwan are Kevin Ingreso, Michael Kempter, Gerrit Holtmann, Dylan de Bruycker, Sandro Reyes, Joshua Grommen and Oskari Kekkonen.
“(Gerrit) Holtmann pulled out at the last minute, Grommen pulled out too at the last minute. Kempter has a knee injury again unfortunately. These are three possible starters on the squad but they are not here. It’s a reality in football. Last minute pull outs happen with any national team. But again, I don’t dwell on that anymore, I focus on the people who are here,” Weiss explained.
Weiss maintained that compared to the team that competed against Chinese Taipei last June at the Rizal Football Stadium, he has a better team with him in Kaohsiung right now.
“We have people who are in very high spirits, talented and match-fit players coming from various clubs in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. They are also joined by local based Azkals who are also preparing for the AFC Champions League representing the Philippines. These players are literally in full swing this season and not unlike the players we have last June who were basically coming from the holidays and were not in regular training,” he said.
Against the same team tonight, Weiss said he expects a much better performance from the Azkals. “I’m very positive you will see that our players are in a much different physical state. We have a good group.”
While he would rather put his mind on the games at hand, Weiss remains optimistic that those who will miss the two friendlies this September will be able to come and play for the team next month and in November. But then again.
“I don’t know how fast they will recover from their injury but we have a bigger pool of players. We have motivated players, we are busy preparing them, telling them how we want to play the game and how we can beat our opponents,” he added.
Weiss said he is hoping that fans will continue to support the team in the coming months. He is also expecting that OFWs in Taiwan will show up in the game against the host.
Calling all our kababayans who are now in Taiwan, especially those who are based in Kaohsiung, to be the 12th man for the Azkals as they tangle with the host, 7pm tonight at the Kaohsiung National Stadium.
After the Taiwan tuneup, the Azkals will go back home to prepare against the visiting Afghanistan. The two sides will face each other on September 12, 7pm at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Philippines got off to a rough start in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2024 Qualifiers. The U-23 team got clobbered, 5-0 at the Chonburi Stadium, in Thailand last Wednesday night by the host team. The Philippines is Group H along with Malaysia, Bangladesh and Thailand. Hoping the team, sent by the Philippine Football Federation, will be able to bounce back in its succeeding games.
Speaking of upcoming games, the Philippine National Women’s Football team will also be busy in the coming weeks. Eight Filipinas who played in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will banner the team along with eight others who played in various tournaments. They will be joined by 12 newcomers based on the list of call-ups who were invited to the training camp.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
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