Injured Patino to skip AFC Asian elims

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippine Azkals took a hit in their strike force as Fil-Spanish forward Javier Patino tore his cruciate ligament and will miss their next games in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Patino, who fired a brace in the Pinoy booters’ 4-3 victory over Tajikistan last month, suffered the injury while playing for Henan Jianye in the Chinese league. He had a second test in Spain and it confirmed the injury that will sideline him for possibly six months.

“It’s the first time that I have an injury that makes me stop (playing) for a long period of time and stops me from doing what I like most, which is playing football and scoring goals,” he posted on Instagram.

“I will be back…stronger than ever,” he said.

Patino’s sidelining happened two months before the Azkals resume their campaign in the ACQ against Yemen in their return trip to the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.