IT will be difficult to predict the chances of the Philippines Azkals national football team when they meet the Mongolian Blue Wolves in Ulan Bator one week from now.
National team manager Dan Palami said this before the Azkals flew to Tokyo yesterday.
How the Azkals will adjust to the cold weather in their Fukushima training camp will determine their chances when they finally meet Mongolia in their second home-and-away showdown in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup on March 15.
“If we were training under normal conditions, I can definitely say that we will beat Mongolia. However, because of the cold weather, we want to adjust, and that’s what we want to do in Japan,” said Palami.
The Azkals encountered snowy weather as their plane landed in Narita, Japan. They were taken straight to Fukushima with the weather reaching a high of 6 degrees centigrade and a low of three degrees.
The team will stay at the J-Village, the national training facility in Fukushima.
Their eight-day stint was made possible under the auspices of the Japan Football Association.
Coach Hans Michael Weiss went to Japan with Phil and James Younghusband, Aly Borromeo, Anton del Rosario, Emilio “Chieffy” Caligdong, Roel Gener, Edward Sacapano, Ian Araneta, Yanti Barsales, Joebel Bermejo, Mark Ferrer, Rey Palmes, Jerry Barbaso and Kristofer Relucio.
The other members of the Azkals in Fil-foreign booters Jason Sabio, Ray Jonsson, Jason de Jong and Ray Jonsson will rejoin the team in Mongolia on March 13.
Earlier in the day, Palami received confirmation from Chris Greatwich that he will not make the trip because of his commitments with work back in the United States.
He is the third member of the team to back out, the first two being goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and Rob Gier.
Greatwich said he will also miss the group stage in Myanmar, together with Etheridge and Gier. -Peter Atencio
/via Manila Standard Today
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