Azkals defend Peace Cup at new-look Rizal

MANILA, Philippines - After a long campaign that placed them on the road most of the time, Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup runner-up Azkals will get to strut their stuff before their throng of supporters in the 2014 Philippine Peace Cup.

Now on its third year, the Peace Cup, a four-nation invitational tourney that the Azkals ruled the past two stagings, will take place at the newly refurbished Rizal Memorial Football Stadium Sept. 1-9.

This will actually be the first competition the Thomas Dooley-mentored Azkals will compete in following their runner-up finish in the Challenge Cup in faraway Maldives. It will also be the maiden major competition at Rizal since it underwent construction to have an artificial turf installed in place of the old grass field.

“The Peace Cup is next and that’s something we’re gonna work on and focus on,” said Dooley.

For the 2014 edition, the organizing Philippine Football Federation is considering to invite stronger nations to put the home side Azkals to the test.

“The team is the defending champion and we’ll probably invite, among others, Vietnam,” said PFF general-secretary Ed Gastanes.

Vietnam is a traditional regional power, having won the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup in 2008. But the Azkals scored a huge upset in their starmaking performance in the 2010 group stages and repeated when they met again in the group play in 2012.

The PFF is eyeing more international friendlies for the Azkals between now and the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers next year.

 â€œThe key is to strengthen as much as possible the team, especially those who are based here in the Philippines. We would want the PFF to schedule more friendlies and try as much as possible to field players who are here so we’ll have a stronger local-based pool,” said team manager Dan Palami.

Gastanes said there’s a pending invite from Uzbekistan for two matches and they’re also looking forward to the Peace Cup and the Suzuki Cup later in November. Next year, the Azkals will embark on another effort to make it to the World Cup and Asian Cup under the AFC’s combined qualification process.

“It will be more exciting and the national team will have more matches. The good thing is, the qualifying matches will be in Fifa dates and it will be home and away format. Imagine if we’re drawn against Japan and we get to host them or South Korea here?” he said.