Phl booters face fancied SoKors
The Philippine U-23 squad takes on Asian No. 1 and defending champion South Korea (SoKor) today as it kicks off its bold bid in the opening of the Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
Hostilities start at 5 p.m. as the cadets seek to pull off an upset and gain momentum in their bid to punch a ticket in the largest continental football showpiece slated in 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Philippine Azkals head coach Scott Cooper said it would be a daunting task to topple powerhouse Korea but emphasized that his wards are not intimidated at all.
The Philippines was drawn in Group H with Korea, host country Singapore and Timor Leste.
“Many of them, the South Koreans, went through to the Olympic quarterfinals recently. They will come in with their swagger a little bit as the Asian Under-23 champions,” Cooper said.
“So we know they are a very, very tall order to play them. But the pressure won’t be on us, but on South Korea.”
Despite the training difficulty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Filipinos were still able to boost their stock after entering a bubble camp at the Aboitiz Pitch in Lipa, Batangas.
The squad was later on armed with a more rigorous three-week camp in Doha with the help of the Qatari Football Association.
There, the Nationals figured in a couple of friendly matches against Arab teams, where they powered to a 2-0 win against Yemen’s U-23 team and a 0-1 loss to a Qatari club.
The Philippines will parade its young mainstays in Oliver Bias, Justin Baas, Mark Winhoffer and Quincy Kammeraad, who already debuted for the senior team in the FIFA World Cup and Asia Cup qualifiers early this year.
Also joining the team are Azkals Development Team members Christian Rontini, Jethro Borlongan, Dennis Chung, Yrick Gallantes, and Filipino-foreign recruits David Setters, Jacob Maniti, Shanden Vergara and Jens Rasmussen.
“We feel that we are in a position where we’ve had 2 very good games. It is a team that has come together very fast with some great attitudes,” Cooper said.
“There is a quiet calmness and real confidence about this team that is like nothing I have seen. And we’re going to need every ounce of that.”