As the Philippines National Under-23 Men’s Football Team gears up for its AFF U-23 Youth Championship 2022 in Cambodia, it seeks to arrest a run of bad results from its recent campaigns. Despite multiple challenges before the tournament even commenced, there is no other option for the players but to give it their all.
“We have brought largely a young squad, a developmental squad, partly because that was the availability of the players and also because we are looking at the SEA Games in the future. But the boys are very much looking forward to it and we can’t wait to get started tomorrow.”
With a program that has been heavily reliant on fielding Filipinos from abroad in international competitions, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed to prevent its spread has derailed preparations. From there, the coaches were forced to call upon locals who are just itching to step on the pitch.
“You know the problem in the Philippines with the quarantine and flights into the Philippines so we couldn’t get foreign-based players back into the Philippines so we started the preparations with 25 Philippine-based players,” said the 62-year-old mentor.
“From that, we selected 12, and then we flew the foreign-based players into Cambodia to meet with them. It’s been very much of makeup and see-how-it-goes because you’ve got two squads coming in together at different times.”
“I will say that the boys have worked really, really hard to bridge that gap. Three weeks of preparations aren’t enough. With the whole squad, it’s only been sort of like 10 days between arrival and the first game but the players have worked really hard to take on board everything,” he beamed.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines has always had a hard time calling up players for competitions such as the AFF Suzuki Cup, which does not necessarily have a place in the FIFA calendar. This has then escalated into a major issue especially since international travel still has not returned to pre-pandemic standards.
“We’ve got about 20 players missing, which is always the problem with the seniors’ squad and the under-23 because the dates are not in the FIFA calendar and we have more players playing outside of the Philippines than the other nations so it affects us. But I always said, we have to put more emphasis on the local players,” said the former Azam Football Club coach.
“We have to work all the time in the Philippines now with the local players. Whatever happens, whoever is available, and whoever’s not available – we always need to have replacements. There has to be a lot more development work done on the islands. A lot of work done in camps, training camps, and meetings, and this tournament is a perfect example of that.”
Hall has been pleased with what he has seen so far with the local players and he notes how badly they want to represent the Philippines internationally. As a team, though, they are heeding inspiration from the Philippine Women’s National Football Team, which booked a FIFA World Cup 2023 ticket at the back of its incredible AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 performance last month.
“I’ve said to the boys here, I said listen, ‘You have got so much to play for it’s unbelievable. The local boys, you have so much to play for.’ Two more of our under-23s (Justin Baas and Christian Rontini) aren’t available here because they just secured good contracts to play professionally in Malaysia. I’ve said to our players – have a good tournament, play well, represent your country well, and you could be the next one to get a good professional contract somewhere.
“The next thing is the SEA Games. Let your performances here get you penciled in for that. I’ve also said, let’s give Scott (Cooper) in the senior team a nudge as well because there are a lot of players in our senior squad who are 34-years-old, 35-years-old. So let’s get some young players pushing into that squad as well,” said the former Birmingham City F.C. Reserves and Academy director.
“There is so much to play for here for these young boys. So individually, a lot to play for the boys. Collectively, I’ve said after the success of the girls – let us at least get out of the group stage. Let’s push into semi-final places and then who knows what can happen?” he continued.
The Philippines’ first assignment in the competition is against Timor-Leste, whom it lost to in the qualifying competition for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2022 in Singapore, 1-0. While revenge is at the least of their concerts, Hall’s boys know that a good start is imperative.
“We know Timor-Leste. Obviously, our boys played them in Singapore in the youth tournament and I also saw their national team in the Suzuki Cup, which was basically almost their under-23 team. So I’ve seen them, some of the players have seen them. We have experienced facing them recently so it will be a hard game,” said the erstwhile Saif Sporting Club coach.
“They work very, very hard in the games. It’s a good game for us to start with because it means we have to set the level straight away. We have to set our standards straight away. They’re a developing nation that has put all of the eggs in the basket of youth development. They’ve put all of their eggs in the development of a new generation of young players, which I admire.”
