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Philippines, 06 Oct 2024 |
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YOUNGHUSBANDS TO MISS CHARITY MATCH AGAINST SOUTH KOREAN CHALLENGE CUP LEAGUE CHAMPIONS By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sat, 21 Jan 2012 The popular Philippine Azkals team is adopting a positive attitude even though ace striker Phil Younghusband and his talented brother James won?t be available for Saturday?s match against the strong Korean Challenge Cup League Champions Icheon Citizen FC in a historic charity game at the Rizal Memorial Stadium at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Reports indicated that the United Football League or UFL club team Meralco Loyola decided not to release its two key players since they will have a UFL League match against the Philippine Army the following afternoon. Kaya also revealed that their players such as Jason Sabio and Nate Burkey among others will also not be released because they too have a league match on Sunday. Azkals team manager Dan Palami clarified that ?they have a game the day after and the clubs that they are playing for refused to let them play in the Korean game.? Atr the same time he admitted that he was made aware a few days ago that the players of Meralco Loyola and Kaya would not be available for the Korean match but apparently this was not relayed to the organizers of the charity match, ABS-CBN and Dragon Promotions, until this afternoon. The news that the Younghusbands would not be playing was greeted with shock by the media attending the pre-match press conference at the Discovery Suites. However, German coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami adopted a positive attitude to the developments. Palami told us ?I would like to give newcomers like striker Denis Wolf and other players who could make an impact. Wolfe could be a revelation. This part of our preparation for the AFC Challenge Cup and this will be one of the ways in which we can evaluate not just the old players but the new players as well.? Coach Weiss ?As much as I would want to have the so-called top players like Phil and James in the group you can?t change the facts and what you can do now is assess the players and evaluate them in a real competitive match and I am looking forward especially to seeing (Fil-Iranian) Misagh Bahadoran and (Fil-Spanish) Angel Guirado who made a very good impression in the three days we have been together. Angel was also okay better than in his first match against CF Madrid. The players have had some training in the last two weeks and I hope we can show something on Saturday.? Weiss said that Wolf was a player growing up in Germany in the Bundesliga youth system in Hanover and then he went to Dusseldorf (second league at that time) and has some experience at this level and he will most likely be a very interesting player to watch from now on.? The Azkals coach said he is expecting the team to be ?highly motivated with players who want to show the coach that each individual deserves to be in the team. I expect them to follow our strategy? even as he said he expects ?top players like Misagh, Angel, Rob Gier and Denis to show their capacity tomorrow (Saturday.) It?s a given that a goalkeeper plays a pivotal role in football and the Koreans have a tall, talented keeper while the Azkals will miss Neil Etheridge who is playing for Fulham in the English Premier League and will probably have to fall back on Eduard Sacapano who is little compared to the Korean keeper. But Weiss responded by clearly stating ?I don?t want to put a player in a negative light. I respect Eduard who has been helping us throughout the last year on several occasions. He is always trying his best and he?s a fair sportsman and we will support him as much as we can.? The coach revealed that he might even opt to ?give a chance to Paulo Pascual who has made significant progress in the last couple of months. We will see depending on the game situation but Eduard has our full trust.? Pool ace Charlie Wlliams of Dragon Promotions which is staging the game in cooperation with the Philippine Football Federation and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN said ?We don?t want too great expectations on the Filipino side to be letdown in the match. This is what its all about and it would be tremendous if the Philippine Azkals win but if they don?t its important for the rest of the team to look good. It goes beyond just the final score.? Williams noted how the Filipino pool players benefit when the crowd gets behind their players and we know that Filipinos are really patriotic and the Koreans coming here are a little bit nervous. They never expected this kind of media attention for the event. There are some X factors and it could lead to some advantages for the Philippine team and I won?t be surprised if something like that did happen and the Azkals win.? Referring to the three consecutive losses of the Azkals in their last three games, Williams said, ?You know what, they are more experienced now. They are stronger now than they were three games ago.? The Koreans will be captained by its MVP Joo Won Moon and Icheon star players Ji Hoon Yang and Jae Young Jin. Although the Azkals will miss prolific striker Phil Younghusband who has so far scored 18 goals in international competition for the Philippines and brother James Younghusband, a solid midfielder has scored 6 international goals, including the lone goal against Internacional de Madrid FC last Jan. 7 the team is grimly determined to play its heart out and learn from the Korean squad which comes from a country that is an unquestioned power in Asian football. Williams who is known in pool circles as the ?Korean Dragon? who captained the US Mosconi Cup team in their annual encounter with Europe told us that Koreans all over the Philippines are ?itching with excitement at the prospect of rooting for their visiting countrymen, while of course Azkals die hard football fans will be in full force cheering them on against the experienced South Koreans.? Respected football and pooll TV commentator Bob Guerrero noted "Everybody in the Philippine Football community knows how good Korean Football is. Korean players are very fit and technically excellent. We know Icheon Citizen will give the Azkals a torrid test. I think it's great that our national team is being tested with these tough tune up games before the Challenge Cup," which is scheduled to take place in April in Nepal. Azkals German Head Coach Hans Michael Weiss will have his hands full with Hyun Chang Lee, the Icheon Citizen Head Coach who has had an illustrious caree. He won the Football Association 2011 Leadership Award for Best Challengers Team. He has a half a dozen championship wins including the 2005 National League Championship. He was promoted as the 2000 to 2003 National Football Team Director. He has been the Citizen FC Head Coach since 2000. Most recently, he led his team to another 2011 Challengers Cup Championship. The South Koreans are not underestimating the young Azkals. The progress of Filipino football has not escaped their attention. Lee said "We are impressed by the big scores the Azkals have made against their wins over Nepal and Sri Lanka. We are very curious about them, but they seem like a dynamic team. There is pressure of course on us as Koreans have never lost to the Philippines in football. But all we can do is play our best." ABS-CBN has also added another benefit of the game to the people, responding to the recent landslide in Compostela Valley. ABS-CBN vice president for Sports , Peter Musngi announced "We are adding as a beneficiary, the victims of the recent landslide. Fifty bodies have been recovered thus far. But so many more are still missing. Hence, the Korea - Philippines friendly will benefit both the Typhoon Sendong and Compostela Valley victims and their relatives.We are hoping that this game will herald more Korean - Philippines sports events in the future that would benefit those who are in need. Hopefully not victims of disasters." So for a variety of terrific reasons, don't miss out on the historic game. It will be one for the ages. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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