THE men’s national football team looks to gain precious experience when it faces China in a friendly tonight in Guangzhou as part of its build up for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Jordan 2019 Qualifiers.
The match starts at 7:30 p.m. with the world No. 127 Azkals facing No. 81 China for the first time in 17 years. The last time they met was at the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers 2000 with the Chinese scoring an 8-0 rout.
The Azkals are facing Tajikistan on Tuesday in Dushanbe at the resumption of their Group F campaign in the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The team arrived in Guangzhou on Monday. The 23-man pool is led by Phil and James Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Daisuke Sato, Manny and Mike Ott, Javier Patiño, Amani Aguinaldo and goal keeper Patrick Deyto
Completing the team are Kenshiro Daniels, Iain Ramsay, Kevin Ingreso, Hikaru Minegishi, Dennis Villanueva, Ace Villanueva, Luke Woodland, Fitch Arboleda, Jeffrey Christiaens,Dominic Del Rosario, Junior Munoz, Nicholas O’Donnel, Camelo Tacusalme and Antonio Ugarte.
The Azkals are coming off a 4-1 victory over Nepal last March 27 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The Azkals are eyeing their first Asian Cup appearance since the country participated in the tournament in 1913.