Azkals U-23 Seeking Historic Finish

Azkals team manager Dan Palami believes that the Philippine U-23 team that they are tying to form this early can accomplish what the previous squad failed to do in the last SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia.

Palami cited several mistakes the team did that led to its disastrous showing two years ago, foremost of them was lack of preparations.

According to Palami, the Philippine Football Federation is now making early preparations for the squad with scheduled camps abroad in their bid to accomplish the Herculean task in the Myanmar SEA Games slated this December.

The country has yet to win a football medal since the sports was included in the biennial meet.

“I think we still have a good chance of securing a medal finish in the SEA Games and with the early preparation that we have right now, we should stand a big chance,” said Palami.

Although the pool has yet to be finalized, Palami hinted that veteran Jason de Jong, twins Marwin and Marvin Angeles, Jeff Christieans, Matthew Uy and brothers Manny and Mike Ott are among the players being considered for the biennial meet.

Neil Etheridge is still eligible to play for the SEAG team but the availability of the stocky 22-year old goalie will depend on whether his English Premier League club Fulham is willing to release their second-choice keeper for the biennial meet.

source: mb.com.ph