The road to redemption and South East Asian glory for the Philippine Azkals has begun
In what is a case of déjà vu, the Azkals have been grouped in Group B of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup alongside Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the winner of the playoff between Brunei and Timor Leste.
The Azkals would like to dramatically improve on their showing this year, as they failed to get out of their group when the country hosted the tournament two years ago and were grouped with the first three aforementioned countries.
Thailand and Indonesia eventually advanced from the Philippines’ group in the 2016 edition, and both countries incidentally also faced off in the Finals, where the Thais emerged victorious 3-2 on aggregate.
Unlike in previous editions, this year shall feature a different format in the group stage. All nations shall play two home games and two away games, with the top two countries of each group advancing to the semi-finals, where it will still be a two-legged affair. The Finals will also remain as a two-legged affair.
The Suzuki Cup shall be held on November 8 to December 15, 2018. Thailand and Singapore have won this competition five and four times respectively, while Indonesia has endured five bridesmaid finishes. The Philippines only finished bronze on 2010, 2012 and 2014, and has yet to reach the Finals.
This is only the first of two major draws this week, as the Philippines will await the 2019 AFC Asian Cup draw which will be held on May 4 in Dubai. One situation that must be rectified first is who’ll be hired as the next head coach of the team, as Thomas Dooley’s replacement or contract renewal hasn’t been determined yet.
