Busy sked for Azkals

Written by Ronnie Nathanielsz

THE Philippine Azkals, fresh from a third-place finish in the recent Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in Nepal, where striker Phil Younghusband won the Golden Boot award for scoring the most number of goals (six), face an exciting challenge in three matches lined up this June.

Philippine Football Federation president Mariano �Nonong� Araneta told the Manila Standard that Malaysia had invited the Azkals to play one match in Kuala Lumpur on June 1 against its national team, which won the gold medal in the last Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta. The PFF had accepted the invitation.

Araneta said that the Indonesian national team, which lost in the finals of the SEA Games to Malaysia, will visit Manila for a match against the Azkals on June 5, to be played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium or the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.

Since China hasn�t responded to the PFF invitation to play the Azkals, in a celebration of Philippine Independence Day, Araneta said he had contacted the president of the Football Association of Thailand in Dato Worawi Makudi, inviting the Thai national team to play the Azkals on June 12.

Manila Standard Today