Greatwich, Jason to join Azkals

SIMON Greatwich, the younger brother of Chris who also plays for the Philippine Azkals, will be recalled to join the nationals when they see action against the Kuwaitis in their two-game 2014 World Cup Qualifying Match series.

The Azkals play the Kuwaitis on July 23 in Kuwait City and will host the Middle East football power on July 29 in Manila

Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss said Greatwich, along with Fil-Dutch booter Jason de Jong, will be included in the Kuwait-bound team to replace suspended players Aly Borromeo and Fi-German Stephan Schrock.

“We want to put the best group together, at the same time, put together a game plan against Kuwait. The plan must be compact and very aggressive,” said Weiss.

De Jong and Greatwich had earlier been tasked to lead the national 23-under team and were not included in the roster that fought and won against the Sri Lanka Brave Reds.

Weiss said the two replacements will join the Azkals in Bahrain for a series of tuneup games starting on Friday.

The soft-spoken German coach added that the coaching staff will try to address some weaknesses that have been exposed during their game against Sri Lanka.

“Our transition from offense to defense was slow. We don’t put enough pressure on the forward position. That’s what we have to work on,” said Weiss during a break in scrimmages yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex football grounds.

Strikers Phil Younghusband and Angel Guirado did not join the scrimmages because of injuries. Younghusband, though, did some light workouts, while Guirado wasn’t even at the complex.

Meanwhile, team manager Dan Palami said the allegations that four members of the Azkals were involved in rape will not be tolerated.

“These are serious allegations that are being plastered on the Internet. As manager of the team, this will not be tolerated. On the other hand, I cannot impose sanctions on the players based on Internet blogs, because, actually, even I could write anything on the Internet. These stories are not verified. So I cannot rely on this alone,” Palami said.

Palami added that the team has not been approached by the police with regards the allegations, nor has a case been filed against any member of the team.

The allegations appeared on a blog claiming that four members of the Azkals raped a girl during a night out.

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