Unfortunately the COVID pandemic has affected Philippine football a bit. Many of the companies supporting teams in the recently launched PFL might withdraw their support because of economic difficulties resulting from the lockdown. On the positive side, Filipino-Swiss defender Michael Kempter who plays for Swiss Super League powerhouse FC Zurich finally got his clearance to play for the Philippines from FIFA after 2 long years of waiting. He used to play at various levels for the Swiss national youth teams so it took awhile before he was granted clearance to switch feds. https://sports.inquirer.net/397472/after-long-wait-to-suit-up-kempter-wants-to-be-azkals-leader/amp Also Fil Swedish defender Jesper Nyholm who was highly rated in the Swedish top tier and was poised to join the Philippine national football team before his devastating injury in 2018 is finally practicing again and will join the Swedish leagues this season with Swedish top tier team Djurgardens IF. Midfielder Gerrit Holtman who plays for Bundesliga 2 side Sport-Club Paderborn 07(recently relegated from the Bundesliga) and used to play for Bundesliga side Mainz 05 has also contacted the national team Coach Scott Cooper and expressed interest in playing for the Azkals.
Other new players based abroad who are on Cooper’s wishlist are goaltender Bernd Schipmann, Jesse Curran(used to play in the Scottish Championship with Dundee FC but now plays in Thailand top tier), Raphael Obermair, Niko de Vera(Portland Timbers in MLS) and youngsters 19 y/o Oliver Bias from Germany(who had stints with the German U15, U16 and U17 national youth teams), and 21 y/o Jefferson Tabinas from Japan who plays for J1 league team Gamba Osaka. Schipmann(who plays in the lower tiers) would only serve as a depth player at goaltender especially with former English Premiership goaltender Etheridge at #1 and several other top tier goaltenders available to back him up but the other players including the players I mentioned earlier would be good additions to the Azkals and some could conceivably compete for starting positions on the national team.
Any updates or news of when they’re restarting the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying? Currently, the Azkals are tied for 2nd place with China. I think the Chinese team still has to play Syria who are still undefeated and on their way to winning the group. That means the Philippines need to finish in the top 2 to advance to the next round of World Cup qualifying and also qualify to the 2023 Asian Cup. I believe they only have 3 games left. Guam, Maldives, and China. They should win those games against Guam and Maldives. The game against China will decide who gets 2nd place and advances.
All the WC/AC qualifying this year has been postponed by the AFC and FIFA. Many countries refused to give up their rights to host games when a centralized location was suggested including China which is hosting a crucial game against the Philippines. Possibly early next year.
Azkals' Neil Etheridge heads to Birmingham City National team goalkeeper Neil Etheridge has signed a deal with second-tier English football club Birmingham City FC. Etheridge inked a four-year deal with Birmingham after spending three years in Cardiff City FC. "I'm now onto a new chapter of my career and I'm absolutely delighted to sign here at Blues! I can't wait to get started and hopefully play my part in bringing success back to this fantastic club," wrote Etheridge. www.philstar.com/sports/2020/09/12/2041935/azkals-neil-etheridge-heads-birmingham-city
pff.org.ph/2021/03/12/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-asian-qualifiers-group-a-to-be-played-in-china-pr-on-june-2021/ FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Asian Qualifiers Group A to be played in China PR on June 2021 Friday, March 12, 2021 Following close consultation with all the participating Member Associations, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Friday, 12 March 2021, that the remaining fixtures in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 will be played in a centralised venue. China PR was confirmed as host of the Group A matches which comprises the Philippines, Syria, Maldives, and Guam from 03 to 15 June 2021. The remaining fixtures were originally scheduled for the March and June 2020 International Match Windows, but were postponed, initially for the October and November 2021 match windows, and again to the June 2021 match window due to the persisting COVID-19 situation affecting most countries. The Philippines’ remaining matches in the qualifiers are as follows: 03 June 2021 – Philippines vs. Guam 07 June 2021 – China PR vs. Philippines 15 June 2021 – Philippines vs. Maldives The Azkals currently sit in third place in their group with two wins, one draw, and two losses. The team remains in contention for a spot in the final round of both the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIfvbUknW9-/?utm_source=ig_embed
They need to beat all 3 teams to guarantee advancement for WC but I like our chances. The match vs China is key.
I agree with your assessment. I think they have a decent chance against China despite the away disadvantage as they are adding some new players including Bienvenido Maranon a prolific Spanish player who holds the record for most goals in AFC Cup(2nd tier AFC club competition) history who is about to get his Filipino citizenship after the Philippine congress approved his request to become one which makes him unique among the Fil Euros on the national team. The national team has also been playing much better ever since Coach Scott Cooper took over the team.
The Philippines also has 2 teams competing in the AFC Champion's League this year. With the 2021 AFC Champions League expanded to 40 teams, United City FC will appear in the group stage for the first time with the Philippines champions having Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, Beijing FC of China PR and a playoff winner for company in Group I. Kaya FC on the other hand will be competing in the AFC Champion's League Preliminary and Playoff rounds. If they don't make the Group stage they will be competing in the AFC Cup Group stage instead, AFC's 2nd tier competition.
I don't see the Philippines moving on to the Third Round of WCQ, but the team will have plenty of opportunities for continued development, with the AFF Championship this year and Asian Cup qualifying next year. The federation is lucky to be part of the AFC, which I consider to be the second best run confederation after UEFA. I'd like to see a Nations League competition in Asia, so that it could eventually become a global competition, but other than that the AFC seems to be doing everything right. They've turned their biggest liability (distance) into their biggest asset by promoting regional competitions at the national and cup levels. They've even managed to make the AFC Cup interesting by splitting it into five zones. I just wish there was more widespread coverage of their competitions.
The Philippine Azkals are set for a training camp in Qatar as part of their preparations for the Joint 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asia Cup qualifiers in China next month. The camp, which will be hosted by the Qatar Football Association, will be held from May 18-31 in Doha before heading to Suzhou, China. “We have communicated with the Qatar Football Association to host our team for a training camp in Qatar,” said Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta during a virtual presser on Wednesday. “As you know very well, it’s so hard to train in the Philippines right now. so we have decided to do the training camp in Qatar.” The Azkals will be comprised of a 26-man pool in Doha, according to team manager Dan Palami. The team is also slated to play friendlies against Palestine and Syria during the camp. “We’re lucky other teams are there also so we can have the friendly matches before we go to China,” Araneta said. “And China is also arranging for the flights of the Group A teams to emanate from Qatar so ideally, we should be in Qatar doing the training camp.” The Azkals, who are currently third in Group A with seven points, will face Guam, host China and Maldives in the centralized bubble. Read more: sports.inquirer.net/422327/ph-azkals-to-set-up-training-camp-in-qatar#ixzz6u0DUI4wx
News on new additions to the Azkals including Maranon's naturalization “We are still following up information on whether the (naturalization) bill has been signed by the president already which should start the process,” shared PFF General Secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes. “There is still time and it will depend on the coaching staff on how Maranon can go to Qatar in the next two weeks. “Tall order but still doable because he has to secure a Philippine passport and we have to register him at AFC and convince FIFA there’s a provision in FIFA regulations about things of this nature and we are prepared to do that and justify it and normally FIFA answers very quickly also. In the past four or five weeks, we have received several approvals already from FIFA on some new players.” In terms of paperwork, defender Michael Kempter is as good as done as mentioned by Cooper. On the other hand, Gerrit Holtmann and Raphael Obermair are still working on theirs urgently to beat the deadline. “Our embassies abroad are very cooperative and accommodating in terms of dealing with the applications of our players for passports,” said Palami, who later noted that Obermair should be accomplishing his part today while certain restrictions may hamper the passport application of Holtmann due to the Bundesliga’s COVID-19 bubble. tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/who-will-be-part-of-azkals-26-man-pool-for-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers/207437
All of the potential recent additions to the national team have at least one Filipino parent except for Spanish national Bienvenido Marañón who has been playing in the Philippines since 2015 and has actively requested for naturalization for several years now even making it thru the long process of getting approved thru both houses of congress. The Philippine national football team prefers not to add players without Filipino blood but Marañón's goal scoring exploits in AFC club tournaments(holds the records for most goals in the AFC Cup), long term tenure in the Philippines and commitment to the country and to the Azkals and the development of football in the Philippines(including setting up an academy) made them consider him as the one exception to that rule. The issue now is whether Marañón's papers will be finalized in time for the upcoming World Cup/Asia Cup qualifiers that will take place in China this June.
Coach Cooper's assessment on the Philippine chances against China is encouraging because of the progress they have made against them thru the years. They also hope to add a few new good players to the mix since the last time they played them in the WC qualifying stage group which resulted in a tie in the Philippines. “This will be the fifth time we’ve played China in a three-year period; there was an 8-0 (loss), then a 3-0 at the Asian Cup and then a 2-0 in China a couple of years back and a 0-0 in Bacolod. So we’re progressively showing against them that we’re doing OK." “We don’t have excuses,” he said. “No players are saying no, we’ve got the time in Doha, we’ve beaten Maldives and Guam already away from home, we’ve tied with China here so it’s up to us and the staff now to raise the bar. That’s what we’re hoping to do with this national team, to push on." “There’s the 2022 World Cup, the AFF Cup, the Asian Cup, 2026 World Cup. There’s a pathway and a target to achieve these things and it starts in China.” However the venue for this last stage will be in China so they definitely will be at a disadvantage in their final group stage tie with the country with only one slot available between China and themselves for advancing to the next WC qualifying stage. Indeed the AFC is relatively well run despite the disadvantages provided by it's size, but it still is the among the weaker FA confederations worldwide so there is still a lot more room for their member FA's to grow before being considered a contender at the world stage.
I really hope it works out for you guys and you can incorporate him into the side because if you do, Philippines then could have a bright future in Asia
Near future at least since Marañón is already 34 y/o. The other players they are looking at as potential additions are much younger though.
There are always dual nationals in the US, Australia and the UK. I am sure they have a long list...the issue is those players almost always choose their home nation first.
They have held camps in the US more than once and I know they did in Aus and the UK too. So I'd say yes they have reached out
Pacific FC(Canadian Premier League) midfielder Matthew Baldisimo has accepted a call up to the Philippines senior men’s national team camp ahead of three 2022 World Cup qualifying matches. The 23-year-old had spent time with Canadian national team at the youth levels, even captaining the side at the 2015 Concacaf U-17 Championship. Having not been involved with Les Rouges for some time since, however, the midfielder has opted to take his next steps with the Philippines. His move over to the Philippines may have some Canadian fans when his younger brother Michael Baldisimo may get cap tied for Canada. He recently appeared for the country at the U-23 level for the Olympic Qualifiers, but has yet to earn a senior cap. The duo’s youngest brother, Mark, is still developing with the Whitecaps Academy.
Recent Callups from Europe Fil-Norwegians 19y/o Adrian Cortes Ugelvik(Molde FK) and 18y/o Lloyd Dahli Fagerli (Molde FK) get call-ups for training camp for Azkals in Qatar ! Andrian Ugelvik is a 6'1" CB while Lloyd Fagerlie is an 5'8" midfielder/forward. Fagerlie is a former member of Norway's U15 junior teams with 6 caps and 2 goals. Fil German Bernd Schipmann, receives a call-up to play for the Philippines. The 6'4" Rot Weiss Ahlen GK is expected to join the Azkals Squad in their training camp in Doha, Qatar.