Azkals may bagong coach

Itinalaga bilang bagong headcoach ng Philippine men’s football team na mas kilala bilang Philippine Azkals si dating England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

Ipinakilala ang 70-anyos na Swedish manager ni team manager Dan Palami.

“He will be a great addition to the team and I’m sure that the players will learn a lot from him,” pahayag ni Palami. “He will be working together with interim coach Scott Cooper.”

“This is one of the moves that we’ve done in order for us to do better in this edition of the Suzuki Cup,” dagdag ni Palami.

Tubong Sunne, Sweden, nagsimula si Eriksson ng kanyang managerial career noong 1977 at kabilang sa mga nahawakan nyang koponan ay ang Roma, Manchester City, at Leicester City, bukod sa mga national squads na gaya ng England, Mexico, at Ivory Coast.

Matatandaan si Eriksson sa kanyang pamumuno sa England sa dalawang World Cup stints noong 2002 at 2006.Manggagaling sya sa stint sa Chinese football club na Shenzen.

“Fortunately, I was able to sell to Sven the dream of Philippine football,” wika pa ni Palami. “He’s been there, he’s done it. I think it’s beyond any financial relation, he’s not about that.”

“He believes in the legacy the can leave behind in the Philippines and in Asia. The Philippines is a very good bed for his time and effort. I’m glad that he agreed after several exchanges of emails. We also met in Qatar. We’re looking forward to him coming over to the team,” dagdag nito.

Optimistiko naman si sa tsansa ng Azkals na umangat.

“I’m very very happy to be here. Nice people, the few training sessions that we have done, they’ve been very very good. The players are dedicated, they work very hard, and the future’s bright. I’m happy, I hope you’re happy as well,” ani Eriksson na makakasama si Scott Cooper bilang consultant na dati na nyang nakasama sa England sa Leicester City noong 2011.

“I have Scott with me. He’s very important for the team and me. He knows much more football to the Philippines than I do and that’s very important. I have experience in football in Asia from Australia, from Korea, Japan, China of course, but I don’t have experience in football in this part in Asia,” pag-amin ni Eriksson.

“But football is more or less the same all over the world, if you can do it in Europe, you can do it in Asia as well. That’s the target.”