The Philippine Azkals look to capitalize on the return of key players when they battle Kuwait in an international friendly tonight at the Kuwait Sports Club Stadium in Kuwait City.
Brothers Phil and James Younghusband, goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and striker Angel Guirado will reinforce the Azkals' bid to end their 10-day Middle East training camp on a bright note.
Confidence is certainly high for the National booters after a scoreless draw with Bahrain on Friday in Manama. The 147th-ranked Azkals' are 32 spots lower than the Bahraini side that once blasted Indonesia, 10-0, in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
Not even the six-hour delay upon arrival on Saturday night at the Kuwait International Airport due to visa issues seemed to affect the mood of the team that is prepping up for next month's AFF Suzuki Cup group stage.
The Younghusbands, Etheridge and Guirado are back in the lineup against the 112th-ranked Kuwaitis for the 6:50 p.m. local time (11:50 p.m. Manila time) affair after missing most of the recent matches for various reasons.
Etheridge is currently doing a fine role as goalie of the Bristol Rovers in the Football League Two tournament in England. The stocky 22-year-old was brought to the Rovers last month on loan from Premier League club Fulham.
Guirado, on the other hand, is playing for Indian side Salgaocar and hasn't been with the team since scoring two goals in the 3-0 friendly win over Guam at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod last June.
But the most notable absence was the Younghusbands, who were left out of the roster for the Philippine Football Peace Cup by management citing "monetary and non-monetary" issues.
Team manager Dan Palami had a change of heart days after the Peace Cup title win by including them for the Middle East tour. However, the two missed the Bahrain match because of a previous engagement.
The four hope to mesh well with some of the Azkals who made an impression in the Peace Cup in Denis Wolf, Patrick Reichelt, Chieffy Caligdong, Demitrius Omphroy and Jeff Christiaens.
Both nations meet for the first time since last year's World Cup qualifiers second round meeting. Kuwait easily dispatched the Azkals with a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Meanwhile, the Azkals will be joined in Group A by Myanmar after it topped the recently-concluded Suzuki Cup qualifiers in front of its home fans at Rangon.
Myanmar finished with 10 points, three points ahead of second placer Laos which will also make the group stage because of a rule that allows the top two nations in the qualifiers to advance.
The Azkals will also be joined in Group A by host Thailand and Vietnam in Bangkok while Group B comprises of defending champion Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos in Kuala Lumpur.
Article Source: Yahoo! News
