Azkals gun for crucial win over Tajiks

Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta expressed confidence a healthier, beefier Azkals team will pull through in their home outing against Tajikistan on March 27 and finally clinch that historic berth in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The Pinoys found their advance stalled by a pair of draws with Yemen and eliminated Nepal in their recent assignments in the Group F Qualifiers, somehow hurt by injuries to key players like Javier Patino, Manny Ott and Amani Aguinaldo.

Araneta expects starters Patino, Ott and possibly Aguinaldo to be back in harness and bared the federation is also eyeing two Europebased players as possible reinforcement in the important match.

“I’m confident we can qualify with the team we have. Patino will be back, Ott will be back, I don’t know if Amani can be back (in time for the fixture). But with these key players in the lineup again, it will boost our chances,” the PFF chief told The STAR.

“Hopefully, we’ll also have two (new) players coming in. One plays in Munich, Germany but without a (Philippine) passport yet; the other is playing in Sweden but he’s hoping to be called up by the Swedish national team. If he’s not called up, I think he’ll play for us in March,” Araneta said.

The Azkals can book their first-ever trip to Asia’s showpiece in 2019 hassle-free with a win or a draw against the Tajiks. If they lose, the Pinoy booters will have to hope Yemen won’t get a victory in the other game against Nepal to salvage a ticket to the Asian Cup.

In the run-up to the Tajikistan fixture, Araneta said the PFF hopes to assemble the pool by next month.

“If we can have the PFL (Philippines Football League) start in March so the players can be released (by the clubs) by February, they can already start training with the national team,” he said.

“We’re also hoping we can get a friendly before they play Tajikistan,” he added.