PH Azkals plagued by injuries

by Peter Atencio - Manila Standard Today

INJURIES continued to sideline players seeking to keep their slot in the Philippine Azkals national football team.

Fil-German William Guiridon Espinosa, for one, dislocated his right elbow when he almost fell off the jetski he was riding during a break in training in a beach resort near Mactan.

The 29-year-old Espinosa is expected to be sidelined for at least a week.

The Azkals are in Cebu as part of their training for their home-and-away World Cup qualifying encounters with Sri Lanka on June 29 in Colomba and on July 3 in Manila.

The team’s strength and conditioning coach Joseph Malinay said Espinosa is now recovering, and will need at least a week before he can join the practices again.

“He’s okay, but he will have to be sidelined for a while, “ said Malinay.

While in Cebu, the Azkals took some time out to conduct a football clinic with selected kids at the Aboitiz Field in Cebu City .

The Azkals also met with members of the national under-13 team, which call themselves the Little Azkals. The young players leave for Malaysia today to see action with nine other countries in the Asean Football Confederation Festival of Football.

The Azkals had earlier lost another prospective member after returning Fil-British Chad Gould decided to go back to London.