Philippines booters face Iraq foes

MANILA, Philippines — Debuting Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet aims to harness the trademark Filipino fighting heart as new-look Philippines resumes its FIFA World Cup Qualifiers drive Thursday (today in Manila) against fancied Iraq on the road in Basra.

Saintfiet looks to steer the Pinoy booters to an upset win or at least a draw against the unbeaten hosts to resuscitate their aspirations after posting only one point off a 1-1 draw with Indonesia and 0-2 loss to Vietnam in the previous window under German Michael Weiss.

The Lions of Mesopotamia, ranked 80 spots above the 139th Filipinos in the world rankings, are on a hot run after opening Group F with victories over Indonesia, 5-1, and Vietnam, 1-0, for pole position. The Philippines runs third behind the Vietnamese (three points on one win and one defeat).

“We don’t want to come home without any points. We want to win something there even how difficult it is, “ said Saintfiet, who has assembled a team mixing youth and experience led by skipper Neil Etheridge for the 10 p.m. game at the cavernous Basra International Stadium.