Azkals sans Phil, Luke battle Yemen Nov. 12

The Philippine Azkals will miss skipper Phil Younghusband and young defender Luke Woodland as they aim to get their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track next week.

Picking up just a single point from their last three matches, the Azkals hope to stay in the hunt for a place in the third round when they battle Yemen at Rizal Memorial Stadium on Nov. 12.

Younghusband, the Azkals skipper, will serve a suspension for picking up yellow cards against Uzbekistan and Bahrain while Woodland has been granted permission to stay with his new club, Chester FC, for the international break.

A free agent since June, when his deal with Bolton ended, Woodland signed with the English fifth-tier club last week.

Sorely missed in games against North Korea and Bahrain, striker Javier Patiño returns to the PH side after helping Henan Jianye to a fifth-place finish in the Chinese Super League.

The Azkals returned to training at McKinley Hill Stadium yesterday with 11 players showing up. The foreign-based Azkals like Neil Etheridge, Jerry Lucena, Rob Gier, Roland Muller, Iain Ramsay, Stephan Schrock and Patiño will start arriving in Manila this week.

As it stands, the Azkals have a mountain to climb to make the third round, which also means automatic entry to the AFC Asian Cup in 2019.

With only seven points from five games, the Azkals need maximum points in their last three games. That will include a trip to Tashkent to play Uzbekistan next year and a clash with North Korea at home.

“We’re left with the almost impossible task of winning all of our last three matches,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “We’re still hopeful because we have a chance.”

Source: Cedelf Tupas of Inquirer.net

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Azkals hopes in World Cup qualifying suffer major blow after 2-0 loss to Bahrain

THE Philippine men’s football team failed to sustain its recent gains as it bowed to Bahrain, 2-0, in their World Cup Qualifying match at the opponent’s National Stadium in Manama. 

After holding traditional powerhouse North Korea to a stunning scoreless draw in Pyongyang last week, the Azkals couldn’t even replicate the same result against a team they already defeated last June as they suffered the shutout defeat on the opponent’s turf. 

The beginning of the end came early in the second half in the 53rd minute when the Bahrainis put up a fine team play that resulted in a shot from close range that went past Neil Etheridge, who then failed to save a free-kick attempt in the 61st that completed a solid eight-minute spell by the hosts. 

The Azkals’ best chance came late in the first half when Phil Youngbhusband’s header off Stephan Schrock went just wide right. 

The result left a huge dent in the Azkals’ hopes of advancing to the third round, leaving them stuck in third spot with seven points, allowing their tormentors to close in, just a point behind. 

The Filipinos return home to regroup ahead of their next match against Yemen on November 12 at Rizal Memorial Stadium. 

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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Azkals looking to sustain momentum in another away tie against Bahrain

THE Philippine Azkals try to sustain momentum when they resume their Fifa World Cup Qualifying campaign against Bahrain on Tuesday night at the opponent’s National Stadium in Riffa.

Regaining their confidence after holding traditional Asian power North Korea to a goalless draw in Pyongyang last week, the Azkals seek a victory this time against the Bahrainis to stay firmly in the running for a spot in the third round.

The match, which caps off a tiring travel schedule for the Azkals, kicks off at 11 p.m. (PH time).

The Filipino booters are running third in Group H with seven points, behind North Korea (10) and Uzbekistan (9). Bahrain sits in fourth with three markers, while Yemen still has yet to score a point.

The top teams to emerge in the eight groups, as well as the four best second placers will advance to next, not to mention book an outright berth to the next AFC Asian Cup.

The Azkals have finally figured out how to solve the Bahrain puzzle after numerous attempts as they stunned the Gulf squad, 2-1, that jumpstarted their Qualifiers campaign last June.

Despite playing on enemy territory, the Filipinos, led by skipper Phil Younghusband and Stephan Schrock on offense and Neil Etheridge and Amani Aguinaldo on the other end, will be playing like they’re home as thousands of OFWs are expected to troop the venue that can seat over 40,000 fans.

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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Brave Azkals stand ground, hold North Korea to scoreless draw in Pyongyang

THE Philippines defied huge odds, holding North Korea to a stunning scoreless draw in their Fifa World Cup Qualifying match on Thursday at Kim Il-Sung Stadium in Pyongyang.

Proving resolute defensively, the Azkals earned an impressive result in enemy territory against a traditional Asian powerhouse in North Korea.

Neil Etheridge atoned for his early miscue that sparked the heavy 5-1 defeat to Uzbekistan last month as the Filipino-British goalkeeper shone brightest with a ton of timely saves to preserve the stalemate that felt like a win.

The match was not televised in the Philippines, leaving local fans dying in anticipation on social media, more so after eight minutes were added to stoppage time.

The Filipino booters thus earned a point for a total of seven to momentarily climb back to second spot ahead of Uzbekistan, which has six.

The Pinoys also forced the North Koreans, who last made the World Cup in 2010, to drop points for the first time after winning their first three assignments, although the home squad remained in first spot in the group with 10 points.

The Azkals’ killer overseas schedule continues as they fly to Manama ahead of their match against Bahrain on Tuesday.

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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Azkals face tall odds against North Korea in World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang

A WEARY Philippine men’s football team tries to defy huge odds this time as is continues its World Cup Qualifying campaign against North Korea on Thursday afternoon at Kim Il-Sung Stadium in Pyongyang.

Eager to atone for their worst defeat in recent memory, a 5-1 beating at the hands of 76th-ranked Uzbekistan last month at home, the Azkals are installed as heavy underdogs anew against North Koreans on their home turf.

Kickoff is set at 3:30 p.m.

The 129th-ranked Koreans are leading Group H with nine points after winning their first three matches, while the Filipino booters, who dropped nine places to 134th in the October world rankings, are running third behind Uzbekistan on goal difference.

The top team to emerge in the group, as well as the four best second placers from the eight groups, will advance to the third round.

“Our goal is still to be in second place and find out if we can be in the four best second-placers,” Azkals coach Thomas Dooley said.

Dooley, whose team bucked the long travel to the North Korean capital city where they trained for only two days, hopes the Azkals will be more mindful not to commit early defensive lapses like the ones they had against the Uzbeks.

“We have to be more defensive minded,” the German-American mentor said.

Skipper Phil Younghusband and overseas-based standouts led by Stephan Schrock will be leading the Azkals, who, however, will miss prolific Filipino-Spanish striker Javier Patiño.

Patino sustained a hamstring injury in the Chinese Super League while playing for Henan Jianye.

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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PH Azkals gear up for World Cup qualifier

photo (c) gmanetwork.com

The Philippine national football team added a much-needed boost to its lineup ahead of its World Cup qualifying match against Uzbekistan on September 8 at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan.

Replacing Rob Gier, Mark Hartmann, and Tomas Trigo in the lineup are overseas-based goalkeeper Roland Muller and United Football League (UFL) players Paul Mulders and Jun-Jun Badelic.

A force on defense with great leadership skills, Gier was forced out of the squad due to a knee injury while Hartmann and Trigo were simply taken out.

The rest of the team will feature familiar names such as captain Phil Younghusband, Neil Etheridge and Misagh Bahadoran, players who helped the Azkals defeat Bahrain and Yemen in the first two matches of the qualifiers.

Also in the list are Amani Aguinaldo, Kenshiro Daniels, Patrick Deyto, Juani Guirado, Kevin Ingreso, Jerry Lucena, Manny Ott, Stephan Palla, Javier Patiño, Iain Ramsay, Patrick Reichelt, Simone Rota, Daisuke Sato, Martin Steuble, Dennis Villanueva and Luke Woodland.

The Azkals are also set to play in a friendly match against Maldives on September 3 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Source: The Manila Times (manilatimes.net)

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PH Azkals ‘must play stronger’ vs Uzbeks

photo (c) Inquirer.net

THE PHILIPPINES toppled Bahrain and Yemen in impressive fashion to kick off their World Cup Qualifying campaign last month, but skipper Phil Younghusband stressed that the Azkals need an even better performance when they clash with Group H top seed, Uzbekistan on Sept. 8.

The Azkals stunned Bahrain, 2-1, and blanked Yemen, 2-0, for a share of the group lead with North Korea.

But Younghusband expects the Uzbeks to come out strong in the match at Philippine Sports Stadium, considering the fact that they lost, 2-4, to North Korea earlier.

“We have to play better than we did against Bahrain and Yemen,” said Younghusband during the recent Trial Run for the Adidas Ace15 and X15 shoes at Sparta Philippines in Mandaluyong.

Along with older brother, James, Phil joined teammates Daisuke Sato, Manny Ott, Patrick Reichelt in testing adidas’ newest football line.

Patrick Giron, the Adidas product manager, said Ace15 is built primarily for ball control and balance, which suits the game of players like Mesut Ozil and James Rodriguez.

Giron said the X15 is built for attacking players like Thomas Muller, Gareth Bale, and Luis Suarez.

Source: Cedelf Tupas of Inquirer.net

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Azkals reach new high of No. 124 in world rankings on strength of wins in World Cup qualifiers

THE Philippine men’s football team has climbed to its best-ever world ranking thanks to an impressive performance at the start of its Fifa World Cup Qualifiers campaign last month.

The Azkals have moved 13 places up to 124th in the latest rankings of the world football body that were released on Thursday.

The rise is largely credited to their two victories in the qualifiers, a 2-1 win over higher-ranked Bahrain last June 11 at the Philippine Stadium in Bulacan, and a shutout of Yemen, 2-0, five days later in Qatar.

The Filipino booters, who eclipsed their previous best of 127th, remained the best Southeast Asian team team on paper, followed by Thailand (140th) and Vietnam (143rd).

The rejigged Azkals continue their World Cup Qualifiers stint on September 8 when they host Uzbekistan at the Philippine Stadium.

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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4 new faces beef up Azkals

FOUR overseas-based players have been called up for the first time by national team coach Thomas Dooley to be part of the 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup Qualifying matches against Bahrain and Yemen next month.

Attack-minded players Iain Ramsay and Kevin Ingreso, defender Stephan Palla and midfielder Luke Woodland are the newcomers in the side unveiled by the Philippine Football Federation yesterday.

The Azkals play Bahrain on June 11 at Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan before flying to Qatar to face Yemen on June 16.

Leading scorer Phil Younghusband will still lead the line with the returning Javier Patino and Stephan Schrock while Suzuki Cup stalwarts Rob Gier, Manny Ott, Misagh Bahadoran, Amani Aguinaldo, Daisuke Sato, Mark Hartmann, Patrick Reichelt, Martin Steuble, Jerry Lucena and Simone Rota and key reserves Kenshiro Daniels and Dennis Villanueva retained their places in the squad.

Neil Etheridge looks to regain his place as a starter with Dooley omitting Roland Muller for the two games. Patrick Deyto and Tomas Trigo will be the back up goalkeepers.

Ramsay, a veteran of the Australian League, has a Filipino mother and has long been in the Azkals radar. He finally agreed to play for the country early this year.

Woodland, a midfielder, played for England at youth level and was on loan at Oldham Athletic last season while Palla is a strong prospect from the Austrian League.

Ingreso already impressed former Azkals coach Michael Weiss who wanted him for the 2011 SEA Games team before an injury prevented him from joining the team.

The Azkals begin training camp on Monday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Source: Cedelf Tupas of Inquirer.net

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Etheridge, Schrock, Patino earn recall as Azkals back in full force for World Cup qualifiers

THERE’S plenty of promise in the Philippine men’s football team that will represent the country in in two matches in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers next month.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) on Monday announced arguably the strongest 23-man Azkals roster yet composed of overseas-based returnees and recruits apart from the local-based core.

Neil Etheridge, Javier Patiño, and Stephan Schrock are back, while Kevin Ingreso, Stephan Palla, Iain Ramsay, and Luke Woodland are expected to make their anticipated debuts.

They will all link up with the Manila-based standouts led by Phil Younghusband and skipper Rob Gier as the Filipino booters host Bahrain in the qualifiers opener on June 11 at the Philippine Stadium in Bulacan, before flying to neutral ground, facing Yemen on June 16 at the Qatar Sports Club in Doha.

Chris and Simon Greatwich, Paul Mulders, and James Younghusband, all part of the 2014 Suzuki Cup roster, missed the cut. Chris Greatwich announced he was taking a break from national duty last March.

See the full roster below:

AGUINALDO, Amani Manuel

BAHADORAN, Misagh

DANIELS, Kenshiro Michael

DEYTO, Patrick Phillip

ETHERIDGE, Neil Leonard

GIER, Robert James

GUIRADO, Juan Luis

HARTMANN, Mark Andrew

INGRESO, Kevin

LUCENA, Jerry Ruben

OTT, Manuel

PALLA, Stephan

PATIÑO, Javier

RAMSAY, Iain

REICHELT, Patrick

ROTA, Simone

SATO, Daisuke

SCHROCK, Stephan Markus

STEUBLE, Martin Markus

TRIGO, Tomas Angel

VILLANUEVA, Dennis

WOODLAND, Luke

YOUNGHUSBAND, Philip James

Source: Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph

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