Based from a report from Football.com.ph, Philippine Men’s National Football Team (Azkals) coach Thomas Dooley has selected nineteen players for the away game at Kyrgyzstan against the said country’s national team on September 6, 2016 (tuesday).
The fixture will be the Azkals’ only friendly game during the FIFA international break due to the cancellation of the Turkeminstan fixture which was scheduled to take place last September 2, 2016 (Friday).
Prominent players such as Luke Woodland, Javier Patino and Stephan Schrock weren’t selected for this game while the likes of Simone Rota and Patrick Reichelt are sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Their absences, though, opened doors for other players.
Hoping to make their international debuts are Stallion Football Club striker Fitch Arboleda and Kaya Football Club defender Junior Munoz. Both players will hope to get some minutes and impress Dooley. It must be noted that this will not be the first time Arboleda will play for the Philippines as he was part of the 2015 SEA Games squad handled by veteran coach Marlon Maro.
In addition to Arboleda and Munoz, the likes of Simon Greatwich, Paolo Bugas and Jovin Bedic were called up by Dooley for this game. All three have played for the Azkals in the past and will no doubt be eager to cement a place for upcoming games. Of the three, only Greatwich has played in an international torunament which was the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup.
The other fourteen players who were retained from the Turkmenistan lineup are Phil Younghusband, James Younghusband, Dennis Villanueva, Martin Steuble, Daisuke Sato, Kenshiro Daniels, Iain Ramsay, Manny Ott, Roland Muller, Kevin Ingreso, Neil Etheridge, Patrick Deyto, Misagh Bahadoran and Amani Aguinaldo.
The match is scheduled to kickoff at 10:30PM on September 6, 2016 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. After this game, the Azkals will face Bahrain in October.
