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[av_heading heading=’PH Azkals to take on Bahrain in friendly ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – In preparation for the 2016 Asian Football Federation Suzuki Cup, the Philippine men’s football team will face Bahrain in an international friendly tonight at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Leading the Azkals’ 24-man squad are Phil and James Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Kevin Ingreso, Ronald Muller, Patrick Deyto, Amani Aguinaldo, Daisuke Sato, Dennis Villanueva, Martin Steuble, and Manuel Ott.
Completing the lineup are Iain Ramsay, Kenshiro Daniels, Paolo Bugas, Jim Junior Munoz, Fitch Arboleda, Simon Greatwich, Stephan Schrock, Luke Woodland, Mike Ott, OJ Porteria, Nick O’Donnell, Daniel Gadia, and Dominic del Rosario.
Bahrain and the Philippines are familiar foes, being grouped together during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Azkals took a 2-1 victory on home soil in their first meeting during the qualifiers but dropped a 2-0 result in the reverse fixture.
The 125th-ranked Azkals is gearing up for the Suzuki Cup group stages, which will be held in the country next month.
It has been bracketed in a tough Group A with defending champions Thailand, 2012 titlist Singapore and Indonesia, which is returning from a FIFA suspension.
Curiously, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia were the last three teams that ousted the Philippines in the semifinal round of the previous three editions of the biennial football tournament.
Meanwhile, Group B comprises Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam. The fourth team in the group is the winner of the qualifying tournament between Brunei, Timor Leste, Cambodia, and Laos in Cambodia this month.
Only the top two teams from the Philippine group stage will move on to the semifinals against the top two teams from the Myanmar group stage./PN
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