PFF wants to keep McMenemy to train the youth

BY JOSEF T. RAMOS CORRESPONDENT

PHILIPPINE Football Federation (PFF) President Mariano Araneta assured former men�s football team British mentor Simon McMenemy he won�t be totally displaced after the PFF has decided to hire a highly rated German coach.

Araneta, who arrived on Saturday from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress in Qatar, told
The Manila Times in a phone interview that he will talk to Azkals team manager Dan Palami regarding the fate of McMenemy.

�Dan and I will discuss about the situation because we really don�t want to put him out since he is responsible to Azkals� improvement,� said Araneta, referring to Mc-Menemy�s big accomplishment when he helped the team reached its first Suzuki Cup semifinal appearance last year.

The lack of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) license, said Araneta, is the main reason why the PFF tapped a new mentor since it is one of the requirements needed for the Azkals� participation in the AFC Challenges Cup on February 9 in Bacolod and 16 in Mongolia.

But Araneta, who replaced the beleaguered former PFF chief Jose Mari Martinez on November 27, said they will still consider hiring McMenemy to coach the Philippines 17-and-under team because his expertise is also a valuable asset to Philippine football.

�We can�t allow him [Mc-Menemy] to just go. We still need him,� he said. �He can help us develop our young team. In terms of basic things in the game, he can help us. We�re considering him to coach in tournaments outside the country which doesn�t need any UEFA license.�

Without UEFA license, Palami has chosen German Hans Michael Weiss to replace McMenemy for the coming AFC Challenges Cup after meeting with Weiss and officials of the German Football Association last week. McMenemy�s contract expired in December.

McMenemy, who guided the Philippines to a 2-0 upsetting of reigning champion Vietnam and drew its game against Myanmar and Singapore on the way to the semifinals in Suzuki Cup, is reportedly �disappointed� with the PFF decision.

But Araneta said the PFF will get in touch with McMenemy soon.

Palami said Weiss was highly recommended by the Germans, who will extend an assistance package that will include subsidy meant to help augment the cost of bringing the new coach to the country.

Source : Manila Times