Malaysia to test Azkals, new coach

MANILA, Philippines – The next Azkals coach will be tested when the national men’s football team play its first international match in 2014 against Malaysia on March 1.

Philippine Football Federation announced on Wednesday that Malaysia’s national team will host the Philippine Azkals at the Selayang Municipal Council Stadium located in the northern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur metropolis.

The March 1 friendly will kick off at 8:45 p.m.

The Azkals are still looking for a new coach after giving the pink slip to German coach Michael Weiss last week.  A new coach is expected to be named before the end of the month which is expected to come from the six candidates announced last week.

Among the six, two big names are floated to be the prime candidates to succeed Weiss – Serbian coach Radjko Avramovic and former US Player of the Year and team captain Thomas Dooley.

Avramovic’s claim to fame is when he piloted the Singapore men’s football team to three Southeast Asian football championships.

Dooley, on the other hand, was named US Player of the Year in 1993 and skippered the US men’s football team in the 1998 World Cup. He was part of the coaching staff that led US to a 2-0 victory against Mexico late last year.

Azkals team manager Dan Palami and PFF secretary-general Ed Gastanes is scheduled to meet Dooley in US this week.

The international friendly against Malaysia is part of the Azkals’ preparation for the AFC Challenge Cup in Maldives set to kick-off on May 19.