McMenemy out as Azkals coach

MANILA, Philippines -- The mentor who led the Philippine men's football team to the semifinals of the 2010 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup will no longer coach the Filipino booters this year.

Speaking to ANC on Saturday, Azkals team manager Dan Palami said British Coach Simon McMenemy's contract expired last December 31.

�We have had discussion with Simon before, especially as he had yet to get his license for the different tournaments that we're going to participate in this coming year,�

The certificate Palami was referring to is the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coaching permit.

McMenemy feels �disrespected�

However, McMenemy claimed that he was not informed about his replacement as Azkals team coach.

In his tweet, the British coach lambasted the team management's lack of effort to communicate the decision directly to him.

"Feels totally disrespected. No call, email, text, nothing. Been told by a friend who watched it on TV, this is not how to treat people,� he said in the microblog.

German assistance

Azkals team manager Palami explained during the ANC interview that an offer from the German football federation triggered the decision to replace McMenemy.

�While he (McMenemy) is doing that (acquiring the UEFA certificate), the German federation came in and offered their assistance� included in the package would be a high-level German coach that they would want the Philippines to take,� said the Azkals team manager.

Among those being strongly considered to replace McMenemy is German football coach Hans Michael Weiss.

Palami added that the German federation made the offer after seeing the Azkals� performance in the recent Suzuki Cup.

�They're willing to coach the Azkals in their training camps in Germany and they're willing to do the scouting for potential players for the national team all over Europe. And they're doing it for free. They are willing to send over the team to a European camp so that we could strengthen further our chances,� he said.

Palami also said that several players from Denmark and Germany are also interested to play for the Philippine team.

�There are several players from the first division in Denmark, for example, we have Dennis Cagara, Jerry Lucena. They also have a second division player in Germany, Stephan Schrock who is coming in,� said Palami.

The Azkals� team manager said that the rest of the players who are not playing in the first and second division in Europe will have to comply with the team policy requiring players to try out in the Philippines.

Source : ABS CBN News