The men’s national football team, popularly known as the Azkals, will pit their skills and game strategy against those of FC Ingolstadt 04, a second division Bundesliga football club on June 23 at around 12am Manila time.
"The tune-up games in Germany will help them bond and learn about each teammate's game so they can complement each other and work better together," Stephen Permanes said to GMA News Online via Facebook interview.
Permanes is a member of the Philippines' under-23 national team training pool. As midfielder for the University of the Philippines' football team, he was named the UAAP Season 73 most valuable player.
FC Ingolstadt announced on its website the test match against the Azkals. That fixture was supposed to have taken place two days prior but was reset, allowing the Philippine team two extra days to rest and train further for the friendly.
Dutch-Filipino Paul Mulders, who had to cut short his participation in coach Michael Weiss’ training camp because his father died, returned to Duren and reunited with the team before they all traveled to Gerolfingen in Bavaria for their match against FC Ingolstadt.
There are three German-Filipinos in the Azkals line-up who are also active players in Germany. Midfielder Manuel Ott, is a member of FC Ingolstadt, but plays on its second team. Another midfielder, Stephan Schrock, is with second division German club SpVgg Greuther Furth. Patrick Hinrichsen is from SC Eintracht Oberusel.
The first three test matches of the Azkals during the two-week training camp in Germany were against an Aachen-Duren selection, FC Niederau, and Bonner SC. Aachen and Duren are neighboring towns in western Germany's Cologne region. The Duren selection, the Azkals met on the pitch, were all local players. FC Niederau is a local amateur club, while Bonner SC had its under-19 team engage the Azkals.
Azkals vs Bundesliga teams
The first three friendly games were warm-ups for this week when the Azkals meet tougher foes on the pitch.
In the Bundesliga, Germany’s federal football league, the top divisions are the first four levels. FC Ingolstadt 04's current ranking is 14th among the second division's 18 clubs, with nine wins, 10 draws, 15 losses in 34 matches last season.
"If Stephan Schrock will play in midfield defense maybe Ingolstadt will have some problems there and if Manuel Ott will perform better as before," said Paul Weiler, a German coach who has been watching the Azkals' tune-up games in Germany, to GMA News Online via Facebook interview.
Midfielder Stefan Leitl and strikers Caiuby from Brazil, Sebastian Hofmann and Moritz Hartmann are FC Ingolstadt’s top goal scorers, according to the Bundesliga website. Leitl was responsible for 13 goals in the club’s past 34 matches, Caiuby made 5, while Hofmann and Hartmann shot 3 each.
Ingolstadt defenders with the most time on the pitch are Tobias Fink and Marvin Matip. Their defenders with the most number of yellow cards last season are Malte Metzelder, Marino Bilskov, and Andreas Gorlitz. Midfielder Markus Karl has 6 while striker Marko Futacs has 5.
The Azkals will meet the first team of SV Darmstadt 98 on June 25 at 12am Manila time. The Darmstadt 98, also known as SV 98, ranked no. 1 in the Regionalliga last season and got automatically promoted to the third division where there are 20 clubs.
SV 98’s top goal scorers are Oliver Heil, Uwe Hesse, Sven Sokler, and Yannick Stark. Its players who stay longest on the pitch are Markus Brudigam, Fouad Brighache and Jonas Gruter. The ones who give the most assists are Sven Sokler, Yannick Stark and Sascha Amstatter.
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