Bienvenido Marañon will finally make his long-awaited debut for the Philippine Azkals. He is part of the 27-man pool that shall represent the country in the upcoming 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup in Singapore.
The 5-foot-7 forward’s papers did not make it in time before the Philippine Azkals’ final fixtures in the joint 2022 FIFA World Cup/2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Now, he is one of 18 members in the selection set to compete in ASEAN’s top regional competition for the first time in their careers.
Maranon joins the likes of veterans Angel Guirado and Patrick Reichelt in the attack.
Behind them, in midfield, Stephan Schrock, Iain Ramsay, Mike Ott, and Kevin Ingreso will join the likes of Harry Foll, Dennis Chung, Sandro Reyes, Oliver Bias, Oskari Kekkonen, Amin Nazari, and Kenshiro Daniels.
When it comes to the defense, Amani Aguinaldo, Martin Steuble, and Daisuke Sato are the only veterans of past campaigns. They will be expected to provide marching orders to Justin Baas, Matthew Custodio, Mar Diano, Yrick Gallantes, Christian Rontini, Jefferson Tabinas, and Jesper Nyholm.
Manning the goal for the games will be one of Kevin Ray Hansen, Bernd Schipmann, and Quincy Kammeraad.
Azkals coach Scott Cooper’s men hope to break through the proverbial glass ceiling and make it to the finals for the first time in history. The Azkals have reached the semi-finals in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2018, only to get knocked out during those four occasions.
The Philippines will begin its campaign against host nation Singapore on Wednesday, December 8 at the Singapore National Stadium. Kickoff time is at 8:30 PM.
