Local keepers ready for Galaxy of stars

MANILA, Philippines - Homegrown players will provide the last line of defense for the Philippine Azkals against the vaunted offensive arsenal of David Beckham and the LA Galaxy side on their “Dream Cup” match on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Negrense Eduard Sacapaño and Cebuano Paolo Pascual will be tasked to tend the net for the host Azkals as first choice keeper Neil Etheridge of Fulham and Under-23 stalwart Roland Muller of Duisburg are tied up with club commitments in Europe.

“Sacapaño and Pascual will be our GKs for the Dream Cup. Now, questions finally answered,” Azkals team coordinator Ace Bright announced via Twitter yesterday.

Sacapaño previously played custodian for Phl in their 1-2 setback to Mongolia in the AFC Challenge Cup playoffs qualifiers in chilly Ulan Bator while Pascual served as backup to Muller in the last Southeast Asian Games.

Veterans Chieffy Caligdong, Phil and James Younghusband, Rob Gier, Ray Jonsson and comebacking Chris Greatwich lead the 30-man pool assembled for the Galaxy outing, linking up with U-23 mainstays and new faces being tried out for future campaigns.

Among the newbies are Matthew Uy from the US and California-born Demitrius Omphroy, who played at the U-18 level for the US and the U-21 level for Panama.

“We’re testing a few players who have not played with us before. This will be a good time for us to see how well they play in preparation for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup as well as future matches,” said team manager Dan Palami.

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with Uy since last year, he’s been recommended by Chris Greatwich. We’ve happened to scout Omphroy via the internet and he’s expressed interest to come over. We’re still trying to figure out if he could be eligible because he was part of the Panama (U-21 team); we’re doing due diligence,” he added.

The Azkals will also be missing Europe-based pros Stephan Schrock, Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara for the friendly with the high-profile Beckham and Galaxy.