Two Azkals may miss match

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and attacking midfielder Marcus Stephan Schrock are unlikely to join the Philippine football team when it sees action in the Long Teng Cup slated in Kaohsiung, Taiwan late next month.

The four-nation tourney is the first of many lined up for the Azkals following their elimination in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers last July.

The presence of the two players, who shone against the Kuwaitis during the qualifiers, will surely strengthen the Azkals’ chances, but team manager Dan Palami said he may just tap their services for a more important competition in the future.

The 6-foot-2 Fil-British Etheridge, 21, is set to be promoted as regular reliever on the first team of Fulham, which competes in the Premiere League, while the 5-foot-5 Fil-German Schrock is busy with his ballclub Greuther Furth playing in the German second division.

“It’s unlikely that he (Etheridge) will play. For Schorck, may be not also,” Palami said in a recent interview.

“We want to preserve our relationship with their teams, so we bring in the players only when it’s absolutely necessary,” continued Palami, who left for Europe Wednesday to scout possible reinforcements for the Azkals.

Palami, though, said the Under-23 pool preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in November will join the Azkals in the event, where they are bidding to improve on their second place finish behind Hong Kong last year.

The Sept. 28-Oct. 6 competition will have competing teams from Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong and Philippines although Philippine Football Federation chief Mariano ‘Nonong’ Araneta Jr said the organizers plan to expand the cast to six.

Last year, the Philippines finished with a 1-1-1 record in the competition, thumping Macau, (5-0) drawing with Taiwan (1-1) and bowing to Hong Kong (4-2).

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/331073/2-azkals-may-miss-match

Tough road ahead for Azkals

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano (Nonong) Araneta Jr. said yesterday several tournaments are being lined up for the Azkals regardless of the outcome of their second round World Cup Asia qualifying series against Kuwait on July 23 and 28.

There will be no respite for the Azkals as the PFF makes sure the national team is kept in razor-sharp form after thrashing Sir Lanka, 5-1, on aggregate, to advance to the second round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever since 1934. Before the victory over Sri Lanka, the Philippines was winless in nine World Cup qualifying contests.

Araneta said plans are underway for the Azkals to compete in the four-team Long Teng Cup in Taiwan in September against Hong Kong, Macau and the host nation. In October, the PFF will host a four-team pocket invitational tournament with Malaysia and Singapore confirming participation and the last slot going to either Thailand or Vietnam. Then, coach Michael Weiss will pilot the Philippines under-23 team in the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia on Nov. 11-22.

The Philippines is one of eight countries that survived the first round of the World Cup Asia qualifiers. The others are Nepal (over East Timor, 2-1 aggregate), Myanmar (over Mongolia, 2-1 aggregate), Vietnam (over Macau, 13-0 aggregate), Palestine (over Afghanistan, 3-1 aggregate), Bangladesh (over Pakistan, 3-0 aggregate), Malaysia (over Chinese-Taipei, 3-2 aggregate) and Laos (over Cambodia, 8-6 aggregate).  The second round pairings are Philippines vs Kuwait, Nepal vs Jordan, Myanmar vs Oman, Vietnam vs Qatar, Palestine vs Thailand, Bangladesh vs Lebanon, Malaysia vs Singapore and Laos vs China.  Additionally, the second round will feature seven duels involving seeded teams – Iraq vs Yemen, Saudi Arabia vs Hong Kong, Iran vs Maldives, Indonesia vs Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates vs India, Uzbekistan vs Kyrgyzstan and Syria vs Tajikistan.

The 15 winners of the second round move on to join five seeded teams – No. 1 Japan, No. 2 South Korea, No. 3 Australia, No. 4 North Korea, No. 5 Bahrain – in the third round where the contenders are split into five groups of four. The winners and second placers of each group then play in the 10-team finals where the top two teams in both groups earn outright tickets to the 2014 World Cup and the third placers clash in a home-and-away series for the last slot.

Araneta said the Azkals who are signed to live contracts with clubs abroad will be allowed by their mother teams to compete in the World Cup qualifiers because the event is sanctioned by FIFA. He said goalkeeper Neil Etheridge will be given a leave of absence by Fulham to play in the Kuwait series and ruled out defender Stephan Shrock being recalled by his German club.

Araneta said last Friday, the PFF formally made an appeal to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) disciplinary committee headed by Lim Kia Tong of Singapore to lift the suspension of Shrock and skipper Aly Borromeo who accumulated two yellow cards in the Sri Lanka series, resulting in a carryover sit-out in the opener of the Kuwait tie. AFC secretary-general Alex Soosay of Malaysia replied yesterday, referring Araneta to the FIFA disciplinary committee.

“It’s a simple appeal,” said Araneta. “We don’t lose anything by trying. We based our appeal on the fact that Kuwait didn’t play in the first round unlike us so the penalty isn’t on even grounds. It would be different if Kuwait played in the first round and subjected to the same circumstances. Personally, I don’t think it’s fair that we are being penalized for playing in the first round and advancing. We’re asking to play with a full lineup to even the competition.”Araneta said the fact that the AFC advised him to appeal directly to FIFA means there is a chance the suspension may be withdrawn. “At least, the AFC didn’t turn down our appeal,” he said. “Instead, we were advised to bring up the matter to FIFA. We understand that FIFA makes a special ruling on cases like this. We’re expecting to receive a response from FIFA before the end of the week. We’re hoping for the best.”

Among the 45 countries ranked in the World Cup Asia qualifiers, the Philippines and Laos are the lowest seeds, occupying joint No. 44-45. Sri Lanka is ranked joint No. 33-34 with Vietnam. Kuwait is ranked No. 17.Araneta said in case the PFF appeal is turned down, Weiss will bring in defensive specialist Jason de Jong and Patrick Hinrichsen of the German club Eintracht Oberursel to fill the gaps. “It’s coach Weiss’ call, not the PFF’s,” said Araneta. “Coach Weiss knows best how to adjust the lineup if Stephan and Aly won’t play. I was informed that Jerry Lucena, who played for us against Bangladesh in the Challenge Cup qualifiers, may also be tapped.”

Araneta said defense will be the Azkals’ priority in the first match in Kuwait. “We expect a hard and physical match against Kuwait and our defense will be severely challenged,” said Araneta. “Our defense must hold up. Kuwait just beat Lebanon, 6-0, in a friendly and the match ended in a free-for-all with security forces firing gunshots into the air to stop the brawl.”

source

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.

source