Azkals open three-leg friendly vs Cambodia

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals take on Cambodia tonight in Phnom Penh in the first stop of their three-nation buildup for November’s AFF Suzuki Cup.

Neil Etheridge, Rob Gier, Jerry Lucena, and Paul Mulders have flown in from their home bases in Europe to reinforce the team for the 7 p.m. match, adding beef to the roster that may miss a number of personalities due to suspension.

Players Angel Guirado, Lexton Moy, and James Younghusband have each been slapped a one-game ban by the Philippine Football Federation’s disciplinary committee while coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami have been meted two matches each and assistant coach Edzel Bracamonte has been booked for one game.

The penalties stemmed from the “sexual harassment” complaint filed by former match commissioner Cristy Ramos. Although the PFF body cleared Guirado and Moy from Ramos’ allegation, it still meted out sanctions for “breakdown in discipline” and “failure in leadership.”

Guirado, who is with a new club in India, and Moy are not in the line-up for the Cambodia fixture.

Younghusband, Palami, Weiss and Bracamonte have all appealed their suspensions. At presstime, though, the appeals committee has not made a decision and such, their sanctions stay.

The Azkals stand higher in Fifa ranking (150) than the Cambodians (191), but judging by their last matchup, the Angkor Warriors have shown it’s no way a one-sided affair. 

The two teams played to a goal-less draw in the qualifying stage of the 2010 Suzuki Cup in Vientiane, Laos, the result leading to the Azkals’ entry into the final stage, where they eventually reached the semis.

“This will be a good gauge at how we’ve come since then. The last time we played them, we played them to a draw. It’s a good gauge how far both teams have progressed,” said Palami.

Phil Younghusband, who missed last month’s US training camp and losing game to Chicago Inferno (1-3) in Wheaton, Illinois, will anchor the offense alongside Denis Wolf and Ian Araneta.

David Basa, Jason Sabio, Carli de Murga and Roel Gener will hook up with Gier and Lucena at the backline while Chieffy Caligdong will join Mulders, Marwin and Marvin Angeles, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Jason de Jong, Boggie Margarse, OJ Porteria, Anto Gonzales and Patrick Recihelt in midfield.

Fil-German Stephan Schrock could not make it to the Cambodia game but according to team coordinator Ace Bright, “he will definitely join us” in the next friendlies, against Singapore on Friday, and Laos on Monday.

Palami expressed hope the PFF appeals committee will overturn the sanctions. 

“If it sticks,(however) I don’t mind staying in the bleachers or wherever the fans are to cheer for the team,”Palami said in an ABS-CBN report.

To prepare for such eventuality, Palami had designated assistant coach Edwin “Diding” Cabalida to call the shots for Phl XI.