HANOI — The Philippine national football team’s Asean Football Federation Cup bid suffered another blow with Patrick Reichelt out due to a knee injury.
Reichelt is set to miss the Azkals’ match against host Vietnam on Friday but Azkals coach Thomas Dooley is hopeful the Filipino-German striker would be fit to play for the Suzuki Cup knockout stage.
The Philippine Azkals have secured a spot in the semifinals with the full six points from two matches, but the Vietnam game will affect the ranking.
[See Azkals book ticket to Suzuki Cup semis with stunning shutout of Indonesia]
Reichelt started against Indonesia after an impressive showing off the bench against Laos, but twisted his knee in the match against Indonesia.
Starting center-back Juani Guirado suffered a hamstring injury early in the match against Indonesia and could be out for the remainder of the tournament.
[See Big blow to Azkals as Juani Guirado injury could sideline him for remainder of AFF Suzuki Cup]
“Patrick is out,” the German-American mentor confirmed.
The semifinals will be played on the first week of December with first leg of the finals set on Dec. 17.
Dooley said he will activate Paul Mulders from the reserve list, but remains undecided on who to insert in the starting lineup, with Mark Hartmann one of the possible choices.
“We are thinking of a couple of possibilities,” Dooley said. “Do we go with speed or technique? It depends on the situation.”
[See Azkals shake off early miscue to pull off four-goal win over Laos in Suzuki Cup debut]
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