by Peter Atencio
FILIPINO-Danish football pro Jerry Lucena is upbeat of his coming stint in the Philippines as a member of the Azkals, the country�s national football squad, which will face Mongolia at the start of the home-and-away series on Feb. 9 at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.
In an overseas telephone interview, the 30-year-old Lucena told Manila Standard that he�s now getting ready to go to Manila and is hoping that all his papers, including his Philippine passport, will be in order in time for the tournament.
�Yes, hopefully all the paper works will be in order before any of this can happen,� said Lucena, whose father Ruben hails from Iriga City in Camarines Sur. His mom, Elise, is a native of Copenhagen in Denmark.
Lucena is one of three professional soccer players directly accepted into the Azkals� roster, along with another Fil-Danish booter in Dennis Cagara and Fil-German Stephan Markus Schrock.
Lucena has played professional soccer in Denmark for the last 12 years, first for Esbjerg from 1999 to 2007, and for AGF-Aarhus afterwards.
He was also a member of the Denmark�s national under-21 team during his younger years.
Lucena, who stands 5�9,� said he has been training for the last two weeks after the winter break, and added that he�s looking forward to joining the three-day tryouts for new members of the Azkals which started yesterday at the University of Makati.
�I am looking forward to it (joining the Azkals). It is exciting that I will be able to help raise the level of Philippine football after playing for more than 10 years,� added Lucena.
Manila Standard
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