PFF urged to extend Azkals coach contract

HANOI – With the historic feats achieved by the Pinoy booters under his tutelage, including a berth in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 semis, coach Thomas Dooley should stay on and try to steer the side to greater heights, a satisfied team manager Dan Palami said yesterday.

With Dooley calling the shots since February, the Azkals scored a milestone finals appearance in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in Maldives and chalked up first victories over Laos and Afghanistan there. Last Tuesday, in Group A of the Suzuki Cup here, Phl XI finally beat long-time nemesis Indonesia after 80 years, 4-0, to clinch a semis berth with a game to spare.

“I think this team had a lot of firsts under coach Thomas so we’re quite happy and I’m recommending that the PFF (Philippine Football Federation) extend his contract,” Palami said after the win over Indonesia.

Dooley is under contract for one year. Palami didn’t reveal the length of the extension he wants for the German-American, who he feels is still the right man for the job as the Azkals compete in the Asian qualifiers for the next Fifa World Cup.

Dooley, meanwhile, said making history and scoring firsts are not on top of his agenda but rather preparing the players to perform their best game.

“It doesn’t matter (to me). When we played in the Challenge Cup, we made history: first time we beat Laos and Maldives, first time we went to the finals. Maybe there will be a first time we beat Germany one day, who knows? But the most important thing is that we play a good game,” Dooley said.

The Azkals posted six points after the first two games of the Hanoi group play, making them virtually pressure-free when they took on host Vietnam (four points) on the last day of elims last night at My Dinh Stadium. 

Palami noted that Dooley has managed to whip the Azkals into shape for the Suzuki Cup despite the teams’ “unsatisfactory” showing in friendlies prior the tourney.

“Coming into the Suzuki Cup, we had a couple of friendlies where our game was not really that satisfactory and even lost to Thailand, 0-3, before we beat Cambodia,” said Palami.

“It wasn’t a very satisfactory performance leading to this tournament but the coaches were really responsive to the challenge and they’re able to tweak our midfield and defense such that it has come to this result (two wins in first two games in the group stage). This is the best start we’ve ever had in the final group stages,” he added.

Dooley’s time at the helm, however, isn’t without controversy as Europe-based Stephan Schrock and Dennis Cagara had declared they won’t play for him after a falling out in the Challenge Cup.

Dooley expressed belief the Azkals can still improve some more.

Notes: Like his predecessors, Azkals coach Thomas Dooley had to clear the misconception that the Philippine team is composed of naturalized players. A foreign journalist asked him what benefits Phl has gained from naturalizing Europeans and Dooley was quick to clarify. “Everybody has Filipino blood. If your mom or dad is Filipino, you should play for your country and so that’s what we do. We don’t have anybody to whom we would say: ‘You wanna play for us? Spend five years in the country and we give you citizenship.’ It’s not like that. Everybody here who plays for our team has Filipino blood.”...The Azkals moved up one notch to 218th in the International Football Federation’s world rankings for November, maintaining its position as the top-ranked nation in SEA.