PHILIPPINE AZKALS FACE STRONG KOREAN CHALLENGE CUP LEAGUE CHAMPIONS IN HISTORIC BENEFIT GAME ON SATURDAY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 19 Jan 2012
The popular Philippine Azkals team minus several of its European stars face a daunting task against the strong Korean Challenge Cup League Champions Icheon Citizen FC in a historic friendly benefit game at the Rizal Memorial Stadium at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Pool ace Charlie Williams of Dragon Promotions which is staging the game in cooperation with the Philippine Football Federation and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN informed the Manila S tandard that the Korean team would arrive on Thursday nigh and will practice tomorrow afternoon after a scheduled press conference.
The Koreans will be captained by its MVP Joo Won Moon and Icheon star players Ji Hoon Yang and Jae Young Jin.
The Azkals will be backed by prolific goal-scorer, striker Phil Younghusband who has so far scored 18 goals in international competition for the Philippines. He will be backed by his brother James Younghusband, a solid midfielder has scored 6 international goals, including the lone goal against Internacional de Madrid FC last Jan. 7. There is also the dazzling Chieffy Caligdong the captain of the Azkals and an enlisted serviceman with the Philippine Air Force. Standing only 5'5", Caligdong has so far scored 13 international goals for the Philippines.
Williams who is known in pool circles as the ?Korean Dragon? who captained the US Mosconi Cup team in their annual encounter with Europe told us that Koreans all over the Philippines are ?itching with excitement at the prospect of rooting for their visiting countrymen, while of course Azkals die hard football fans will be in full force cheering them on against the experienced South Koreans.?
Respected football and pooll TV commentator Bob Guerrero noted "Everybody in the Philippine Football community knows how good Korean Football is. Korean players are very fit and technically excellent. We know Icheon Citizen will give the Azkals a torrid test. I think it's great that our national team is being tested with these tough tune up games before the Challenge Cup," which is scheduled to take place in April in Nepal.
Azkals German Head Coach Hans Michael Weiss will have his hands full with Hyun Chang Lee, the Icheon Citizen Head Coach who has had an illustrious caree. He won the Football Association 2011 Leadership Award for Best Challengers Team. He has a half a dozen championship wins including the 2005 National League Championship. He was promoted as the 2000 to 2003 National Football Team Director. He has been the Citizen FC Head Coach since 2000. Most recently, he led his team to another 2011 Challengers Cup Championship.
The South Koreans are not underestimating the young Azkals. The progress of Filipino football has not escaped their attention. Lee said "We are impressed by the big scores the Azkals have made against their wins over Nepal and Sri Lanka. We are very curious about them, but they seem like a dynamic team. There is pressure of course on us as Koreans have never lost to the Philippines in football. But all we can do is play our best."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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