MALE’ – Ang pagkatalo sa nakaraang Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup ay hindi makakapigil sa Azkals na maghangad pa ng mas mataas, pangako ni team manager Dan Palami.
Nagrerekober pa ang Azkals matapos mabigong makaiskor ng napakahalagang goal na nagkaloob sana sa Pinas ng unang titulo sa loob ng 101- taon para makasama sa mga elite team ng Continent sa 2015 Asian Cup.
“Siyempre nakakalungkot na hindi tayo nanalo but we have to go beyond this tournament and look at the bigger picture – the future of Philip-pine football,†sabi ni Palami. “This is not the end of Phl football. In fact, this is one of those situations where you either fold up or you continue to plod on. And I think we have more challenges to conquer and we focus on that rather than on that particular loss.â€
Pagkatapos ng Maldives Challenge Cup, susubukan naman ng Azkals ang kapalaran sa Asean Football Fede-ration Suzuki Cup sa November kung saan tangka nila ang gold matapos makarating sa semifinals ng torneong ito sa nakaraang dalawang editions.
“We got the Suzuki Cup to look forward to in November,†sabi ni Phil Younghusband. “And the way the team’s playing, obviously we feel we have progressed. We know we’re playing better and we know we have great potential, especially looking at young players like Amani (Aguinaldo), and (Daisuke) Sato, both 19 year olds and doing really well. The future looks good for us.â€