THE Philippine Azkals will kick off their campaign in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup when they tangle with the Singapore Lions on Tuesday evening at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.
Now under head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, the Azkals hope for a morale-boosting win in the 8 p.m. match before facing Thailand four days later.
The Swedish head coach said he hopes to help the Azkals reach the final round after the Philippines settled for a mere semifinal finish in the previous edition of the Suzuki Cup.
“I think the pressure is on the whole team, the federation, the coaching staff, and myself to try to do better in the Suzuki Cup than the Philippines has done before. That means reaching the finals,” Eriksson said.
“From the few training sessions we had, we have very good players, who are dedicated and who work very hard, so I think we have a good chance,” he added. “There is pressure but we’re going to try and we all look forward to it.”
Part of the pool for the match against the Lions are Jovin Bedic, Curt Dizon, Patrick Reichelt, OJ Porteria, Mike Ott, Manny Ott, Kevin Ingreso, Stephan Schrock, Paul Mulders, Amani Aguinaldo, Carli de Murga, and Martin Steuble.
Others in the roster are James Younghusband, Dennis Villanueva, Marco Casambre, Patrick Deyto, Adam Tull, Jarvey Gayoso, Neil Etheridge, Michael Falkesgaard, Stephan Palla, Javier Patino, Daisuke Sato, Luke Woodland, John-Patrick Strauss, Iain Ramsay, Misagh Bahadoran, and Alvaro Silva.
There was doubt if veteran Phil Younghusband is able to suit up for the Lions match after failing to attend the Azkals’ practices the past few days because of flu.
In the 2016 edition of the Suzuki Cup, the Azkals – then under coach Thomas Dooley – failed to make it past the group stage after losing to Thailand 0-1./PN
