Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Manila: The Philippines will prepare for their 2014 AFC Challenge Cup campaign with training camps in Qatar and Bahrain, Philippines media has reported.
Speaking to the Philippine Star, team manager Dan Palami informed that they are making arrangements to take the team to Qatar, where they are planning matches against 2012 AFC Challenge Cup hosts Nepal and local club side Al Ahli, in April before returning to the Gulf for a training camp in neighbouring Bahrain from May 6 to 16 prior to their departure to the Maldives.
“Preparation is key for us in the Challenge Cup. All the other countries are taking the tournament seriously. We cannot afford to relax especially now that we’re putting in a new system under our new coach,” Palami said.
The new coach Palami referred to is former USA captain Thomas Dooley, who took helm of the Philippines national team following the surprise dismissal of German Michael Weiss, who enjoyed a successful three-year stint as national team boss during which time he led the Philippines to a third-place finish at the AFC Challenge Cup and semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2012.
The Philippines have started reasonably well under Dooley, holding regional rivals Malaysia to a goalless draw in Kuala Lumpur before being edged 1-0 by Azerbaijan in a friendly in the UAE on Wednesday.
But for Germany-born Dooley, who won the 1990/91 Budesliga title with Kaiserslautern and the 1996/97 UEFA Cup with Schalke 04 before captaining the USA national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, the results in the warm-ups are a distant second to those in the main event in May.
“I’d rather lose four matches now and learn from it than lose in the Maldives,” he recently said.
The Philippines are in Group B of the eagerly-anticipated eight-team tournament where they will face two-time runners-up Turkmenistan, who defeated the Azkals 2-1 in the 2012 Challenge Cup semi-final; 2013 SAFF Championship winners Afghanistan and AFC Challenge Cup debutants Laos, who booked their ticket to the Maldives as one of the two best runners-up from the qualifiers alongside the Turkmen.
The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup will be held in the Maldives from May 19 to 30 with the winners of the fifth edition of the tournament for emerging nations also earning a berth at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.