MANILA – Negrense Shanden Vergara was included in the Philippine U-23 Azkals team that will compete in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Group H qualification matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore from Oct. 25 to 31.
The San Carlos City, Negros Occidental native was one of the players named by the Philippine Football Federation to its 22-man roster for the week-long qualifiers.
Vergara was a former member of the De La Salle University Green Archers men’s football team before being recruited to play for Lincoln Memorial University in the United States.
Apart from Vergara, also named to the U-23 Azkals team to be mentored by Scott Cooper were Oliver Bias, Mark Winhoffer, Quincy Kammeraad, and Justin Baas.
Also tapped were Christian Rontini, Dennis Chung, Jethro Borlongan, Yrick Gallantes, Mandy Ignacio, Oskari Kekkonen, Sandro Reyes, Mark Francis Swainston, and Ivan Ouano.
Jessie Semblante, Enrico Mangaoang, Paolo Niccola Perez, David Kevin Setters, Nathan Rilloraza, Kieran Hayes, Miguel Antonio Mendoza, and Jens Sebastian Rasmussen cap off the rest of the lineup.
The U-23 Azkals goes up against South Korea on Oct. 25, 5 p.m.; host nation Singapore on Oct. 28, 8 p.m.; and Timor Leste on Oct. 31, 5 p.m.
The U-23 Azkals need to finish on top of Group H to formally qualify to the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup tentatively slated from June 1 to 19, 2022 in Uzbekistan.
A second-place finish in the group might be good enough provided that the national men’s football team finishes in the top four of the runner-up standings.
The team prepared for the tournament by conducting a bubble setup at the Aboitiz Pitch in Lipa, Batangas before flying to Doha, Qatar to finish their preparations./PN
