PFF readying Panaad for Challenge Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano Araneta Jr. said yesterday the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City will be the site for the country’s match against Mongolia on Feb. 9 to open a home-and-away qualifying series for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup.

The second game is scheduled on Feb. 16 in Mongolia but Araneta said he will negotiate to hold the rematch also at the Panaad Stadium on Feb. 12. The Philippines’ recent Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup semifinal series against Indonesia was originally a home-and-away tie but became an away-and-away battle for the Azkals since no Philippine venue met the strict AFF standards. If the Philippines hosts both games in the Challenge Cup, it will be an away-and-away series for Mongolia.

Araneta is set to represent the country as PFF president in the AFC Congress in Qatar on Thursday. He will be accompanied by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Monico Puentevella and PFF secretary-general Chito Manuel.

“I plan to speak with the president of the Mongolia Football Federation (R. Amarjargal) during the AFC Congress in Qatar,” said Araneta. “I hope to convince Mongolia to play both games in Bacolod. At the moment, we are blocking off hotel rooms in Bacolod to anticipate the staging of the first match. Holding the second match in Mongolia may be difficult because of winter conditions.”

Araneta said it is the coach’s call to determine which players will make up the Azkals squad in the Mongolia series.

British coach Simon McMenemy, who steered the Azkals to the Suzuki Cup semifinals, is back in England. His contract with the PFF has expired.

Palami left for Frankfurt yesterday to confer with officials of the German Football Association on a grant program. He will be back on Friday to meet with the Azkals and disclose the outcome of his trip. The Azkals open training camp either this Saturday or Monday. The coach, whoever he is, will be in the camp by Jan. 15.

“We’re talking with the German Football Association to assist us on technical matters and in grassroots development,” said Palami. “It’s a grant and the program will be supervised by a German official. I’ve asked for a short list of five candidates whom we might consider as our national coach. They must all have UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) licenses. Unfortunately, Simon doesn’t have a UEFA license and we’ve told him about it. In the Challenge Cup, national coaches from Europe are required to own UEFA licenses. The salary of the national coach will be covered by the German grant so that’s a big help for us.”

Palami said whatever is management’s decision on the Azkals coach, he hopes the fans will support it.

“We hope we’ve earned the trust of the public by what we’re doing and what we’ve done so far for Philippine football,” said Palami. “We will choose the best coach available for our team, someone with international experience, someone who can develop our attacking options. Simon, of course, is a candidate. But we’re keeping our options open for the good of our team.”

Palami said the core of the Azkals team that played in the Suzuki Cup will be retained but reinforcements will be welcome.

“We turned down about 12 Fil-foreigners who tried out for the team,” continued Palami. “We decided to give slots to local players who’ve worked hard to make it and were in better condition. When we open training camp, we’ll welcome anyone to try out. We hope guys like Chad (Gould) will come. Fil-foreigners or Filipinos playing in first division Europe leagues will be seeded because of their background.”

Palami said while in Germany, he will try to contact more Fil-foreign players. At the moment, the national pool lists two Fil-Germans, Mark Drinkuth and Manny Ott. Drinkuth, 19, is with Agon Dusseldorf while Ott, 18, plays with Ingolstadt. Another Fil-German prospect is Stephan Schrock, 24, of Geuther Furth. Two Fil-Danish players in Palami’s radar are Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara.