Azkals re-assemble as joint World Cup and Asian Qualifiers resume

After more than a year without international football, the Philippines is gearing up for the crucial stretch in the joint qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup when it resumes in June.

With their last match being played way back in November 2019, The Azkals are setting up camp in Qatar to build up their chemistry as the Philippine Football Federation released its 25-strong contingent that will play three Group A matches in Suzhou, China less than a fortnight later.

The top team in the group, and four best-runners up are assured of their passage in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers, with Qatar already got in as hosts in 2022.

Ranked third in Group A with seven points in five matches, the Philippines will resume their qualifiers against Guam on June 3, followed by an all-important rematch with the 2023 Asian Cup hosts on June 9 before wrapping their second round against Maldives on June 15.

The Syrians are currently leading the group after taking maximum points in each of the five matches and had the same opponents as the Azkals with three matches remaining in the schedule.

Boasting with quality, the side of Scott Cooper will have their hands full as it had a full mixture of newcomers and veterans from around the world as they are looking for the best team available.

That being said, there were multiple omissions in the last Azkals squad that played in Dubai against the unbeaten Syrians who they defeated in Dubai more than a year ago. Among those who are not selected are defenders Justin Baas and midfielder Manny Ott.

Leading the Azkals were United City midfielder Stephan Schrock and Birmingham City netminder Neil Etheridge, who are already two of the longest-serving active footballers in the squad with 109 caps between the pair in more than a decade of service.

The vital experience also brought in Angel Guirado and Mark Hartmann to lead the attack, despite the fact that they only combined for 17 goals in 65 matches with the former the most recent one to score in a vital win away at Guam in the qualifiers.

Familiarity is something that will be addressed, where eleven of those were getting their first-ever call ups to the national team that the opposing scouts will have a hard time deciphering them.

Among those newcomers are defenders Michael Kempter of Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax and Mito Hollyhock’s Jefferson Tabinas, and the German-based midfield pair of Bochum’s Gerrit Holtmann and Magdeburg’s Raphael Obemair, who had been on the radar ever since he was on the books of the nine-time reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

The Azkals also secured the call-ups for Oliver Bias and Lloyd Fagerlie who had been youth internationals for Germany and Norway, respectively.

Besides the quartet, the homegrown contingent will be led by the Azkals Development Team duo of former UE stalwart Mar Vincent Diano, and two-time UAAP MVP Jarvey Gayoso of Ateneo. Both of them have already played for the U22 Azkals in the most recent Southeast Asian Games that the country hosted.

And it’s not just Diano and Gayoso who are representing the ADT, as they are also joined by former Akron defender Niko De Vera and midfielder Mark Winhoffer who had been solid for Yale, with the 22-year-old all-Ivy League selection is set to captain the Bulldogs last year but the pandemic scrapped their title defense when their season was called off.

PHOTOS: Philippine Football Federation