THE country’s under-23 men’s national football squad will compete in two high-profile tournaments to supplement the emerging program’s active campaign in 2015.
With the recent success of the Azkals in gaining final round entries in three major tournaments last year, the program headed by Team Manager Dan Palami is aiming to duplicate the success of the senior nationals.
On tap for the U-23 nationals this year are the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship qualifiers in March and the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore in June.
Clustered in a four-team Group G that includes North Korea, Cambodia and group host Thailand, the under-23 players will vie for one of the 15 spots in the 2016 AFC U-23 championship in Qatar from March 27 to 31.
The Junior Azkals face North Korea in Bangkok on March 27, followed by the match against Thailand on March 29. They wind up the campaign versus Cambodia on March 31.
Up for grabs for the top three winners in the main tournament next year are spots in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Among the Azkals called up during the last Suzuki Cup that are eligible for both the AFC U-23 qualifiers and the SEA Games are Mark Hartmann, Dennis Villanueva, Manny Ott, Curt Dizon, Daisuke Sato, Kenshiro Daniels and Amani Aguinaldo.
The seniors’ side, on the other hand, will have its hands full for the expanded 2018 International Football Federation World Cup Asian qualifiers starting in March.