Philippine national men’s football team coach Hans Michael Weiss vows to put up a fight against powerhouse Indonesia in their friendly Tuesday at the Rizal Football Stadium.
“We have a very good squad, we are not short of options,” said Weiss, who remains confident despite the sudden departure of midfielder Stephan Schrock. The Fil-German Schrock had to fly back to Germany to attend an urgent family emergency.
Aside from Etheridge and the Younghusbands, the Azkals will also be spearheaded by national team mainstays Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Angel and Juani Guirado, Rob Gier, Jason de Jong, Manny Ott, Denis Wolf and Jason Sabio.
Weiss added that Tuesday’s match will be crucial to gauge how much improvement the Azkals have gone since their surprising run in the 2010 Suzuki Cup, where they succumbed to a 2-0 aggregate loss against Indonesia.
“We shall see where both teams stand six months ahead of the Suzuki Cup,” said Weiss.
Indonesia coach Nil Maizar is also aware of the caliber of the Azkals.
“The Philippines is a good team,” Maizar said. “We will fight for the best.”
Indonesia, ranked 151st in the FIFA world rankings, will be led by Indonesian-Dutch team captain Irfan Bachdim, who led his team to a fourth-place finish in an eight-team tournament in Palestine recently. Only four players from their runner-up squad in the 2010 Suzuki Cup will be battling the Philippines in the friendly.
Source: Interaksyon.com
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