MANILA, Philippines - It won’t be the strongest possible Azkals team but a combine of veterans and mainstays of the Under-23 squad that will carry the fight for Phl against visiting Los Angeles Galaxy on Dec. 3 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Azkals old-timers Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Phil and James Younghusband, Rob Gier, Ray Jonsson and comebacking Chris Greatwich will provide the experience for the 30-man roster formed for the game against the high-profile Galaxy side led by David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane.
Linking up with them are Azkals Misagh Bahadoran, Roel Gener, Nestor Margarse, Anton del Rosario, Jason Sabio, Eduard Sacapano, Angel Guirado, Nate Burkey and Lexton Moy, plus SEA Games campaigners Jason de Jong, Manny Ott, Carli de Murga, Raymark Fernandez, Jinggoy Valmayor, OJ Clarino, Joshua Beloya, Jake Morallo, Jerry Barbaso, Paolo Pascual and Roland Muller.
Azkals captain Aly Borromeo, who is recovering from an ACL, has been included in the lineup along with Matthew Uy and Demitrius Omphroy.
“We’re not with best team, “ admitted Azkals coach Michael Weiss, saying Europe-based pros Fil-German Stephan Schrock, Fil-British Neil Etheridge, Fil-Danish Jerry Lucena, and Fil-Dutch Paul Mulders won’t be available for the game.
“No Schrock, no Etheridge, no Lucena. That’s very unfortunate. As much as I support and want to see this game coming, it would be better if you have the professionals so we could see the team perform on a higher level,” added Weiss.
Even Muller, the Fil-German custodian who’s expected to fill in the spot for first choice keeper Etheridge, is not yet confirmed.
“Hopefully, Roland Muller will come but he’s still not 100 percent (sure),” Weiss said of the MSV Duisburg goalie whom he said “did very well in the SEAG but did make some crucial mistakes that cost us the game.”
Superstar Beckham is expected to play for the newly crowned Major League Soccer champions for at least 45 minutes against the Azkals, according to the event’s promoters.