2015 Asian Cup is Azkals next target

MANILA—The Philippine Azkals are setting their sights on qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. And they will get their first shot as early as March next year when they see action in the final round of the AFC Challenge Cup hosted by Nepal.

“Bringing home the Challenge Cup is our next target as it ensures our participation for the 2015 the Asian Cup,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “It’s not akin to the World Cup, but the hype and excitement will be at the level of the World Cup.”

This early, Palami is already mulling the staging of friendlies for the Azkals in preparation for the Challenge Cup.

Palami rattled off India and Pakistan as prospective opponents for friendly matches for the Azkals in October.

“All of the friendly matches we will have are preparatory to the Challenge Cup and keep our rankings up,” said Palami, who had lamented the recent drop of the Azkals’ position in the Fifa rankings despite their victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh early this year.

When Palami flies to Europe late this month, he intends to talk to the clubs of Europe-based Azkals like Stephan Schrock, Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara and lobby for their release for the March 3 to 18 tournament.

“We want to bring the best possible team to the Challenge Cup,” he said.

Although he has yet to reveal their names, Palami is also seeking to talk to new Filipino prospects for the team based in Europe.

“So far, we have six names, but it might expand to 10 before I leave,” said Palami.

The Azkals return to action in the Long Teng Cup starting Sept. 28 in Taiwan, with Palami expected to field a mix of the seniors team and the Under-23 squad that is preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta in November.

The Azkals advanced to the AFC Challenge Cup main tournament for the first time by overcoming Mongolia in pre-qualifying, before finishing second behind Palestine in the group qualifying in Myanmar last March.

The other teams that qualified for the Challenge Cup, a competition for emerging Asian countries, are North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Nepal and India.

The Azkals saw their World Cup qualifying run end last July 28 when they lost to Kuwait, 1-5, on aggregate after the second round.

Still, the Azkals already made history by reaching the second round after beating Sri Lanka in their first World Cup qualifying tie in close to 10 years.

The Azkals missed standouts like Lucena, Cagara and Mulders in the Kuwait tie because of club commitments

“This early we will already ask permission for their clubs so that it will be easier for us next year,” Palami added.

Published in inquirer.net

Dan Palami Scouts For New Azkals Members

Philippine Azkals manager Dan Palami is off, with Brussels, Belgium as the first stop on a working tour of Europe, searching for more football players of Filipino lineage to lure to the national cause. Some of the veteran Fil-foreign players on the Azkals are playing bigger roles with their mother clubs in Europe, and are going to be less available as the seasons wear on. Some of them may not even be released by their pro teams, at all.

When asked how he was going to attract these players, and if the job was easier now with the team’s relative fame, Palami had a standard-issue answer.

“What’s my pitch going to be? It’s going to be the same as it was with guys like Rob Gier, when nobody knew – or cared – about the Azkals,” explained Palami. “It’s a chance to play for flag and country.”

What the general public does not realize (particularly those who have biases against the inclusion of “half-Filipino” players), is that it is often a great financial sacrifice for these young men to come to the Philippines at the cost of jobs with limited slots in the soccer hotbeds in Europe. Some of our players receive $10,000-$20,000 salaries to play professionally in Europe, which is no mere pittance. Yet, many of them have risked their professional careers and taken leaves of absence to suit up for matches wearing the Philippine flag.

Managing sensitivities on the issue of race is also something the Philippine Football Federation is now conscious of. Bear in mind that the huge sums being given as sponsorship money to the Azkals actually go to the coffers of the PFF for grassroots development. With the sport’s development having been “dormant for decades” as Palami says, it will “take four years” or so before we develop another Chieffy Caligdong. In the meantime, the team needs the technology transfer and seasoned talent of Fil-foreign players who are willing to don the flag.

There are a lot of big tournaments awaiting the Azkals, who are also part of the United Football League individually, and to some extent, members of the Under-23 team. The Southeast Asian Games involves the younger Azkals, while the Suzuki Cup and AFC are slated for next year. These major tournaments coincide with breaks in major European leagues, as FIFA avoided the overlap between national and club teams. In the meantime, there are more diamonds in the rough home and away, waiting to be discovered. Published in The Philippine Star

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