High hopes on Azkals 7s

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – Azkals co-skipper Misagh Bahadoran strongly believes there’s a bright future for the Philippines in seven-a-side football.

“It shows that at this game, the Philippines is not so far behind,” said Bahadoran, speaking after the team’s runner-up finish in the Asia 7s Championship here.

The Azkals battled powerhouse Japan tooth and nail and came a goal away from dethroning the champs. It took a sneaky strike from Miran Abe in the comeback period to lift the Japanese past the pesky Azkals in the thrilling finale, 2-1.

“Japan is more established in 7s, they have their own 7s leagues and they brought their best players here. But after the game (finals), they said, ‘We’re really surprised how you guys played and hope we play again in the next finals,’” the Fil-Iranian veteran said.

Bahadoran and fellow vets Stephan Schrock, Mark Hartmann and Daisuke Sato beefed up the new iteration of the Azkals.