Azkals begin Peace Cup title defense vs Chinese Taipei

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Azkals relish the opportunity to put up an impressive performance before their countrymen as they kick off their title-defense Wednesday night in the shortened PFF Peace Cup at  new-look Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

First order of business is  Chinese-Taipei, a side that handed it a loss last year, in a 7 p.m. dispute for a finals berth in the four-nation tourney that's been reduced to a two-day affair due to a recent International Football Federation (FIFA) directive.

Asian Cup-bound Palestine and Asean bet Myanmar tangle at 4 p.m. in the opening fixture.

Winners of Wednesday's double-header will march into the gold medal match on Saturday night while losers will contest the bronze on the same day.

"The guys know what's at stake and it's nice to be back in Manila, it's been a while (since the Azkals last played at Rizal)," said Azkals skipper Rob Gier during Tuesday's pre-tournament press conference at Manila Hotel.

"The team looks pretty good," said Phl coach Thomas Dooley. "We've had tough training sessions because we want to move on the right direction and almost everybody is where he should be."

From a league format spread over three days, the third edition of the Peace Cup was reformatted to a short knockout format to comply with a Fifa ruling setting two international matches per A team in any international window.

But the shift won't affect the participating squads' attitude toward each game.

"For me, it's a must win game every game. It doesn't matter who you play against; you have to win every game, for the fans and to see where we're at," said Dooley.

The three-peat-seeking Azkals will have the chance to avenge their 1-2 setback to the Taiwanee in the 2013 edition. A shot at Palestine, their conquerors in the finals of the AFC Challenge Cup last May, is also possible if they both advance to the gold medal match or slip to the battle for third.

"It's a difficult game because we lost to Chinese Taipei last year so they're ahead of us and we have to put up a strong effort to beat them. On the other hand, we lost to Palestine in the finals of the Challenge Cup and Myanmar is another team we can get some experience from," said Dooley.

"We're in a situation where we have to show and prove something, especially with the two teams we lost to last time, and we want to change that," he added.

Chinese Taipei coach Chen Kuei-Jen said his side is a "young team that can run" and will "fight and try to get to the finals."

"We've studied Phl's games and we're gonna use our weapon, try to win," Chen said.

Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud said only 50 percent of the roster that won the Challenge Cup are seeing action in the Peace Cup.

"This is one step to our preparations for the Asian Cup so it's very good (exposure) to us. But we didn't have good preparation because we have war in Palestine," coach Jamal Mahmoud said.

A Jordanian of Palestinian origin, Mahmoud could only link up with his players here in Manila and train for the first time Monday. He flew straight to the Phl capital as he couldn't get a "permit" from Israeli authorities to pass through Palestine.

Myanmar mentor Raddy Avramovic said the Peace Cup will give his young crew a good test.

"It's testing time, really, to see if we improved anything from the last Challenge Cup," said Avramovic, who is actually returning to Rizal after calling shots for Singapore in the semis of the 2012 Suzuki Cup against the Azkals.