THE Philippine Azkals resume their joint 2022 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup and the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign next week, taking on China first at the Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.
Back in action after a 17-month layoff because of the pandemic, the national men’s football team looks to finish strong in the joint qualifiers and book its spot in the prestigious FIFA and AFC tournaments.
The Philippines is currently at third place in Group A of the qualifiers with seven points from a 2-1-2 record, behind Syria (5-0-0) with 15 points, and China (3-1-1) with 10.
Maldives (2-0-3) and Guam (0-0-5) round out the group.
The Azkals last played in the qualifiers in November 2019, losing to Syria (1-0) in Dubai.
Scheduled qualifying matches of the team in 2020 failed to push through because of the pandemic.
China will be the first for the Azkals in their joint qualifier return set for June 8 at 1 a.m. (Manila time).
The two teams fought to a goalless draw in their first encounter on Oct. 15, 2019 at the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod.
The Chinese, however, are coming off a huge 7-0 victory last May 30 in Suzhou entering their match against the Azkals.
Suzhou, China, incidentally was the original venue for the Group A matches until local authorities decided to pull out from hosting at the last minute over coronavirus concerns.
The UAE then stepped in to accommodate the matches.
The Azkals, too, were supposed to face Guam first on June 3 had the competition proceeded as scheduled in Suzhou.
For the qualifiers, the Azkals have brought in some 25 players as part of the player pool, led by veteran Stephan Schröck, who was named captain.
Also part of the pool are Patrick Reichelt, Martin Steuble, Jarvey Gayoso, Mark Hartmann, Angel Guirado, Mike Ott, Luke Woodland, Kenshiro Daniels and Alvaro Silva.
The team, however, was also hit by player pullouts, notably top goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who had to undergo surgery.
The Azkals think tank admitted that the team’s buildup was not without hiccups but that they are exploring every possibility to further strengthen the squad that they have now.
After the China contest, the Philippines takes on Guam at 10 p.m. on June 11 and Maldives at 10 p.m. on June 15.
All the Azkals matches in the qualifiers at the Sharjah Stadium can be seen on One Sports and One Sports+. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo