The Philippines’ preparations for its crunch 2023 AFC Asian Cup third-round qualifiers this June have gotten more exciting.
The Philippine Football Federation announced Saturday afternoon the list of the 25 players who shall represent the country when it takes on Malaysia and Singapore in the Tri-Nations tourney later this month.
Headlining the team are veterans Stephan Schrock and Neil Etheridge and newcomer Gerrit Holtmann.
It is an impressive squad all throughout with the coaching staff led by coach Scott Cooper perhaps spoiled for choice. The 51-year-old mentor will have one of Etheridge, Kuala Lumpur FC’s Kevin Ray Hansen, and Azkals Development Team stopper Quincy Kammeraad to pick on goal.
When it comes to the defense, Justin Baas, Amani Aguinaldo, Daisuke Sato, and Carli de Murga are joined by new recruits Diego Bardanca, who represents Buriram United from the Thai League 1, and Enrique Linares of Spanish club UD San Pedro.
Over to the midfield, players such as Dylan De Bruycker, Oskari Kekkonen, Kevin Ingreso, Harry Foll, Manuel Ott, Mike Ott, Schrock, Oliver Bias, Jesse Curran, John Patrick Strauss, Iain Ramsey, and Dennis Villanueva will all compete intensely for minutes on the pitch.
Lastly, Holtmann will look to make an instant impact upfront with Patrick Reichelt, OJ Porteria, Mark Hartmann, and Bienvenido Maranon.
The Philippines shall face Malaysia on March 23, 2022, and Singapore on March 29, 2022. All three nations are set to compete in the final round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers this June with the Filipinos doing so in Group B against Yemen, Palestine, and host Mongolia.
