STEPHAN Schrock is letting his actions do the talking this time as the Philippine men’s football team braces for a tough campaign in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers starting with a game against Bahrain on June 11 at the Philippine Stadium.
Since the Azkals returned to training on Monday, his first appearance for the national team since a falling out with coach Thomas Dooley, the star midfielder has been declining, although politely, interview requests.
Schrock took a break after complaining about his diminished role in the AFC Challenge Cup last year, but has since apologized and patched things up with Dooley.
Team manager Dan Palami believes Schrock’s silence speaks loudly about his dedication.
“I think Schrock’s focused on what he has to do. He knows his role in the team,” the Azkals boss told Spin.ph. “Everything that has to be said has been said and so his job is to make sure that he plays well and gets the team to the next level.”
Palami, though, stressed there was no gag order on the Filipino-German booter.
“I think it’s a self-imposed silence,” he said. “And I think that shows his maturity as well as his focus on the job at hand.”
It seems Schrock is once again in Dooley’s good graces.
“He’s great,” the German-American mentor said. “He has shown in training that he’s one of the best players we have. I always said he’s a great player. And he comes over here, he’s one-hundred percent fit, and he does great things.”
“I don’t even know where to put him,” Dooley added. “He has so many positions where I can put him because he’s good at any position. He’s good up front, he’s good at the left and the right. It’s good to have players like him.”
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