Dooley replaced Michael Weis, who was instrumental in improving the Philippine ranking from 162 in July 2011 to 127 in the latest FIFA rankings.
During his three-year stint with the Azkals, Weis led the team to the semi-finals of both AFC Challenge Cup and Suzuki Cup.
The FIFA international friendly game in Malaysia is part of Azkals' preparation for the upcoming 2014 AFC Challenge Cup scheduled for May 19-30, 2014 in Maldives.
The Maldives games will be the last of a series of five tournaments in the AFC Challenge Cup as the the football body prepares for the bigger and expanded Asian Cup.
The Azkals and the Malaysian football team have figured in past games in their respective home courts. The Azkals won over Malaysia 1-0 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in 2012 while both teams ended with a scoreless game in the same year in Malaysian home court. Read more:
On March 5, the Philippine team will face Azerbaijan in another friendly.
A few days before the Azkals' first friendly, Dooley called up at least 23 players who will make up the team in the upcoming friendly.
The list include veteran players in the Azkals team as well as comebacking and new members.
Chieffy Caligdong, who remains in the injured list may not see action this Saturday and will likely be replaced by veteran defender Rob Gier.
The Younghusband brothers, Phil and James are expected to be fielded by Coach Dooley along with Marwin Angeles, Amani Aguinaldo, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Jason De Jong and Mark Hartmann of Global FC.
They will be joined by other Azkals veterans including Ed Sacapaño, Juani Guirado, Patrick Reichelt, Marwin Angeles, Amani Aguinaldo, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Jason De Jong, Mark Hartmann, OJ Porteria and Chris Greatwich.
The others in the list include comebacking players Anton Del Rosario, Ruben Doctora, Nate Burkey and Simon Greatwich. First timers in the team include, Kenshiro Daniels, Andrew Liauw and Nick O’Donnel of Kaya FC and Filipino-Swiss Martin Steuble.
The Philippine Azkals will figure in at least five friendlies before settling in the main competition in Maldives from May 19-30, 2014.
The game will be held at the at Selayang Municipal Council Stadium in Kuala Lumpur starting at 8:45 p.m.
At stake in the Maldives games is a slot in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
source: digitaljournal.com
No comments:
Post a Comment