Booters to watch Manny fight

MANILA, Philippines - The Azkals are dying to see Manny Pacquiao.

Fresh from their successful campaign in the AFC Challenge Cup in Myanmar, the Azkals are now gearing up for bigger battles ahead, including the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June and July.

They are on a break right now, but it doesn’t mean that they’re resting on their laurels. On April 9 and 10, they will conduct tryouts in Daly City, in search of talents aged 15 to 24 years.

Defender Anton del Rosario is now in the United States while team captain Aly Borromeo was scheduled to fly out of Manila. Soon, midfielder Simon Greatwich will join them there.

They will supervise the tryouts. Azkals team manager Dan Palami will also be there at the Gellert Park in Daly City.

While they’re in the US, the Azkals are also hoping to grab the opportunity to watch the 32-year-old Pacquiao train at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

“We can drive down and see him. We haven’t seen him train. We’d like to see him,” said Del Rosario.

James Younghusband said if he could find the time, he will fly to Las Vegas to watch Pacquiao when he stakes his WBO welterweight crown against Shane Mosley on May 7.

“I’d love to,” he said.

Palami said he plans to watch the fight in Las Vegas because he’s never seen a Pacquiao fight live. Now everybody else wants to join him in Las Vegas, including UK-based goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, UA-based midfielder Jason Sabio.

“Azkals in Vegas? Wow!” said Greatwich.

In fact, Greatwich, a Fil-British player, beat everyone to the draw, jumping on a bus from Manila to Baguio last Tuesday to hook up with Pacquiao.

He also got to meet Pacquiao’s chief trainer Freddie Roach, strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza and world champion Amir Khan, who also hails from Britain.

“It’s quite a privilege to meet Manny and the five-hour trip was kinda worth a while. We had a quick jog but I could not keep up with his pace,” Greatwich told the Baguio press.

That’s going the extra mile just to meet Pacquiao.