Azkals revamped, face Guam XI

MANILA, Philippines - Parading new faces and young guns in place of unavailable Europe-based pros and two of their most celebrated players who were not called up for the tourney, the Azkals hope to still dominate the four-nation Philippine Football Peace Cup which begins today at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Azkals tangle with Guam at 7:30 tonight in the main game of the opening day of the competition formerly known as the Long Teng Cup, which serves as part of their preparations for the AFF Suzuki Cup in November.

The Phl-Guam match will be preceded by the 4 p.m. duel between Chinese-Taipei and Macau.

“We’ve been training since summer, having a camp in Chicago and series of games in Southeast Asia. We also have new faces for the team and we’ve excluded two players. We could see very good spirits for the team throughout training and hopefully we’ll bring this into the tournament and be successful at the end of the week,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss.

The Azkals have assembled a pool of 20 players for the Peace Cup, a mix of veterans and a number of under-23 standouts. Chieffy Caligdong will be the team captain, joining hands with Jason Sabio, Denis Wolf, Ian Araneta, Misagh Bahadoran, Carli de Murga, Marwin and Marvin Angeles, Patrick Reichelt, Jason De jong, OJ Porteria, Roel Gener, David Basa, Matthew Uy, Demitrius Omphroy, Jeffrey Christiaens, David Basa, Eduardo Sacapano, and Ref Cuaresma.

Glaringly absent are stars Phil and James Younghusband, who according to the Philippine Football Federation, were not selected for Peace Cup due to scheduling conflict with the brothers’ non-football activities and economic demands in the last three months prior to the Suzuki Cup.

“Sometimes, things have to be done for the sake the team because team is greater than individual,” explained Weiss. “I tried to understand their extra-curricular activities..again  and again and again until it becomes unacceptable to other players. I cannot tolerate that they’re not with the team most of the time.”

Both the PFF and management/coaching staff, though, are not closing the door on the Younghusbands’ return after the Peace Cup.

“That (future call-up) is a question that can’t be answered today,” said PFF marketing and communications head Ebong Joson, stressing that this was not a sanction on the popular brothers.

Omphroy and Uy, who caught the team’s eye during their Chicago sortie, are expected to make a good impression in the debut. “I think Demitrius Omphroy will win the hearts of Filipino football fans very quickly like he’s won the hearts of the coaching staff. We’re lucky to have him in the team, same with Matthew Uy,” said Weiss.

The Azkals loom as favorite against Guam, having romped off with a 3-0 conquest in a Fifa friendly last June in Bacolod.

“We have to take into consideration that we’ll miss six to seven players who played against Guam the first time. But we have fresh, young players who are eager to show what they’re capable of doing,” conceding that they are “a little bit short on the defensive line.” 

Guam mentor Gary White said they are bringing back 95 percent of their roster in the June game and maintained that his players have more match experience now compared to three months ago.

 Notes:  The Phl Peace Cup will be the first international football tourney to feature the “Handshake for Peace,” an endeavor started by the football federation in Norway and the Nobel Peace Institute and already adopted by Fifa for the 2014 World Cup. According to Knut-Are Okstad, counselor of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the gesture will be done by the captain and referees after every match in the Peace Cup.