THE national men’s team plays two international friendlies in October to test how far the Azkals’ preparations have gone for the 2016 Asian Football Federation Suzuki Cup.
Ranked No. 1 in Southeast Asia and No. 125 in the world, the Azkals tangle with Bahrain on October 7 and North Korea on October 10. Both matches will be played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
“Those two games are good tests for us. We have three great opportunities,” Azkals Coach Thomas Dooley told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “One, learning from problems we will make during the game. Second, a perfect opportunity to gain some confidence. And, third, having a chance to get up in the rankings.”
The tentative kickoff time for both matches is set at 3:30 p.m. but it may be moved to 8 p.m., depending on the progress of floodlights installation at the stadium.
The Azkals already faced both teams in the International Football Federation World Cup Qualifiers. The Azkals beat Bahrain, 2-1 in June last year, but the world No. 126 world bounced back at home with a 2-0 victory four months later.
Against North Korea, the Azkals forced a scoreless draw in an away match also last October and pulled off a rousing 3-2 win at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last March.
The nationals also beat 108th-ranked Kyrgyzstan, 2-1, in a friendly early this month.
The 24-man pool formed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) includes Phil Younghusband, Stephan Schrock, James Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Amani Aguinaldo, Roland Muller, Patrick Deyto, Nicholas Michael O’Donnell, Luke Woodland, Dennis Villanueva, Kevin Ingreso, Martin Steuble, Manny Ott, Mike Ott, Iain Ramsay, Paolo Bugas, Daniel Gadia, Junior Mñoz, Kenshiro Daniels, OJ Porteria, Fitch Arboleda, Simon Greatwich and Dom del Rosario.
“I can say that they are the 24 best players available, at the moment, for the game against Bahrain and North Korea,” Dooley said.
The Philippines is bracketed in Group A of the Suzuki Cup, which fires off on November 18 at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan. The Azkals take on Singapore on November 19, Indonesia three days later and defending champion Thailand on November 25.