Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Etheridge won’t see action with Azkals in key matches

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino-British Neil Etheridge has been sent on a month-long loan by English Premiere League side Fulham FC to Charlton Athletic in the third-tier League One, a move that could prevent the Azkals goalkeeper from seeing action for the national booters in several key matches.

The 21-year-old Etheridge, who has already ruled himself out of the second leg of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifying duel with Mongolia on March 15, will also miss the group stage qualifying in Myanmar if the Azkals progress.

Although the loan move is only for a month, Etheridge believes he could finish the season with Charlton in League One, which ends May 7. League One doesn’t take a break for international matches unlike the EPL.

That means Etheridge won’t be available for the Azkals until the first round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in June.

The goalkeeper played eight games for the Azkals in 2010 and was instrumental in their run to the semifinals of the Suzuki Cup in Vietnam and Indonesia.

“It kills me (to miss the Myanmar games) but I have to take this chance,” Etheridge told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an e-mail Tuesday night. “It’s massive at my age. This is the kind of move that I have been waiting for.”

Etheridge believes he will have more playing opportunities at Charlton, which is in the midst of a defensive crisis with its two goalkeepers out with injuries.

Meanwhile, former Azkals coach Simon McMenemy has signed a two-year deal to handle Dong Tam Long An FC in the Vietnamese League.

McMenemy coached the Philippine Team for four months in 2010, and steered Azkals to a maiden semifinal finish in the AFF Suzuki Cup.

/via Inquirer (By Cedelf P. Tupas, 3/9/2011)

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