SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – The Philippine Azkals started out the Asian 7s Championships by winning both of their two matches on Thursday night at the EV Arena.
The Azkals defeated Hong Kong, 6-1, and host Malaysia, 4-3, to take the top spot of Group B with an unbeaten slate in Day One of the seven-a-side competition played under a smaller pitch.
The Philippines wraps up the group phase against India on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before the quarterfinals to be played later in the day.
The Azkals are competing in their first international competition under a different shape and form after a change in leadership at the Philippine Football Federation where Dan Palami stepped aside as team manager of the men’s football team earlier this year.
New Azkals, same fire and desire
Former national team member Stephan Schrock, who scored the match-winning goal against Malaysia, expressed confidence about the team’s chances of bagging the crown, although reigning champion Japan is expected to be a strong contender for the competition now on its second edition.
“It’s a good solid one. Good mix of all the players like myself, Misagh [Bahadoran], and Mark [Hartmann], more experienced than the group that is pushing into the younger boys, they are doing a good job. It’s a good foundation,” said Schrock.
Schrock sees a competitive tournament in the lead-up to the knockout stage.
“Everyone had a little bit of problems getting off the start. It’s a new environment, new competition, you really don’t know really the other side unlike in the 11-a-side, you have a pre-match report of the teams and all the players. Here, all the teams are pretty much new,” said Schrock.
“Japan is a pretty strong contender, Malaysia obviously, Singapore doesn’t look so bad. It’s a pretty strong group. Everyone can beat everyone,” said Schrock.
Other players in the team are Kenry Balobo, Marcel Ivan Ouano, Andres Aldeguer, Misagh Bahadoran, Patrick Grogg, Jed Matthew Francisco, Elljhone Clyde Rasonable, Michael Joseph Canicosa, Yrick Gallantes, Mark Hartmann, Joshua Jalog, Arnel Amita, Marvin Jake Bricenio, Amir Muaimin Aningalan, and Daisuke Sato.
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