Azkals Coach Tells Fans: Don't worry

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO (Manila Bulletin)
March 12, 2011, 11:53am

MANILA, Philippines — Even though there appears a slight concern in Philippine Azkals’ ability to deal with playing in a freezing condition, Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss is not about to press the panic button.

Only three days left before their crucial AFC Challenge Cup qualifying rematch against Mongolia in Ulan Bator, Weiss remains upbeat the Azkals can cope up with the freezing weather condition despite losing to the Kanto University football team in a tune up match, 4-0, in Gotemba City, Japan last Wednesday.

“No worries for all Azkals fans,” the German mentor, who turned 46 Friday, told the Bulletin in an e-mail interview.

“(Yes) we had big problems adapting to the weather and had a match versus a good university side… but the result really doesn’t matter too much and it shows you that we still have to learn a lot.”

Weiss acknowledged that the college team they faced was superior in both technique and teammanship than the Azkals side, saying: “The team (Japanese) trains under professional conditions since young age, (and) they are affiliated to Yokohama Marinos, a big club in Japan. Some of these players might be pros in the future.”

Azkals team manager Dan Palami agreed.

“It’s okay (with the loss). Our intention was really not to win, but to get the players acclimatized with the cold weather,” Palami said in a phone interview yesterday.

Palami was so confident about the team’s chances that he believes the team’s performance against the Japanese team would be enough to beat the Mongolians for the second time.

“Yes (we can still beat them),” said Palami, who added that the Azkals were safe following a powerful 8.4-magnitude earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami in the northeastern part of Japan.

“The Azkals are safe… felt the tremors but otherwise OK. Airports have been closed, hopefully it will not affect our flight to Mongolia tomorrow,” Palami posted on his Twitter account.

The Azkals were playing another Japanese university team in Gotemba City at presstime and Weiss appears unconcerned if ever the team loses again because he said the locals are still adjusting with the condition and “several players have been missing, so that was also a big factor.”

Fil-American Jason Sabio and Fil-British Simon Greatwich flew from the US and joined the team only yesterday afternoon. Two more Fil-foreigners, Ray Jonsson and Jason de Jong, will rejoin the team in Ulan Bator next week to complete the line up.

Meanwhile, Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation had approved the release of a P2- million grant for the Azkals’ campaign in the Challenge Cup.

He said the amount will help foot the bill for the Azkals’ travel expenses since the mandatory $20,000 aid by the AFC was not enough.

Armed with a 2-0 edge after beating the Mongolians last Feb. 9 in Bacolod City, the Azkals need only a draw to advance to the group stage in Myanmar.

Should the nationals prevail, they will meet Bangladesh, Palestine and the host nation in a single-round battle for the top two slots to the regular draw of the Asian Challenge Cup in 2012.