Ehteridge kasama na ng Azkals vs Qantas Australia

MANILA, Philippines - Lalabanan ng Philippine Azkals ang Qantas Australia under-23 ngayong gabi sa Dubai sa pagtatapos ng kanilang 10-day Middle East camp bilang paghahanda sa AFC Challenge Cup.

Sumama na si Fil-British Neil Etheridge, ang first-choice keeper ng koponan, mula sa England sa Azkals, may 1-1 rekord sa kanilang friendy matches sa Gulf.

Natalo ang Azkals sa Uzbekistan Olympic team sa Dubai, 0-3, bago nakaresbak, 3-1, laban sa Qatari side Al Ahli SC sa Doha.

“For me, the most important thing is to focus more on defense and how to distribute the ball. In the first two games, the midfield is not being utilized for distribution. I think they should work on that-pass the ball (more) to (Jason) de Jong or (Marwin) Angeles to make the plays,” sabi ni Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta.

Sinabi rin ni Araneta na hindi niya nagustuhan ang paglalaro ng mga players ng iba’t ibang posisyon laban sa Uzbeks, ang Group B leader sa Asian Olympic qualifiers.

“James (Younghusband) played right defense, which is not his usual position. James is a lot better in the midfield because that’s his usual game. You can also see the mistakes of the defenders in the offside traps, because they’re not really used to it. Let defenders play defense. If we want to experiment, try James at central midfield but not as defender,” dagdag pa ni Araneta.

Naghahanda ang Azkals para sa Mar. 8-19 Challenge Cup sa Nepal kung saan sila naka-grupo sa 2010 titlists North Korea at dating kampeong India at Tajikistan.