By Olmin Leyba
The Philippine Football Federation is eyeing a late September schedule for the four-nation meet it is organizing in Bacolod City as part of the Azkals� preparations for the AFF Suzuki Cup.
PFF president Nonong Araneta said from the original slate of Oct. 12-16, the PFF is looking at new match dates of Sept. 25, 27, and 29 for the competitions that will feature Phl, Chinese Taipei and Macau and a fourth nation, possibly recent visitor Guam.
�We�re setting an earlier schedule to give way to the participation of the Loyola Meralco Sparks in the semifinals of the RHB Singapore Cup in the first week of October,� Araneta said.
The Sparks are bannered by two Azkals stalwarts, Fil-British brothers Phil and James Younghusband, and are set to face Singapore League powerhouse Tampines Rovers in the semifinals in October.
The four-nation meet in Bacolod will be this year�s version of the Long Teng Cup, an annual international bootfest among the Filipinos, the Taiwanese, and players from Macau and Hong Kong, previously held in Kaoshiung.
Last year�s champion Hong Kong had already begged off from the Bacolod tilt, according to Araneta, who added that they are looking at Guam to complete the roster.
�We�ve already written Chinese Taipei and Macau if they are available for the new dates and we�ll probably know their answer by this week,� said Araneta.
He added that the Guam Matao, who were in Phl last June 12 and dropped a 0-3 setback to the Azkals, will likely be invited to join this gig, having expressed interest to return to the City of Smiles.
philstar
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