ACE goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and striker Gerrit Holman will banner the Azkals in international friendly matches against Chinese-Taipei and Afghanistan next month, the Philippine Football Federation announced on its website last Wednesday night.
Under German coach Michael Weiss, they will lead the 24-man national men’s football team that will see action in the tune-up matches as part of their preparations for the joint FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup joint third round qualifiers in November.
In a rematch between the two squads on Sept. 8 at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung, the Azkals are out to avenge their 2-3 setback last June 19 to the Taiwanese at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Four days later, the Pinoy footballers face the Afghans at the Rizal pitch, the first meeting between the two sides in nine years, during next month’s FIFA windows when clubs are allowed to release their players for national team duty.
Etheridge, 33, currently plays for Birmingham in the second-tier English Football League Championship while Holtmann now plays for Turkish club Antalyaspor.
Also called up for the first time this year were defenders Santiago Rublico (Atletico de Madrid) and Michael Kempter (Grasshopper Club Zurich), midfielders Manny Ott, who missed the last window due to an injury; John Patrick Strauss, and forward Jens Rasmussen, who last saw action during the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup last year.
The other players are goalkeepers Patrick Deyto and Kevin Ray Hansen, defenders Jesse Curran, Daisuke Sato, Christian Rontini, Carli de Murga, Joshua Grommen, Enrique Linares and Amani Aguinaldo, midfielders Kevin Ingreso, Dylan de Bruycker, Sandro Reyes and Oskari Kekkonen, and forwards Patrick Reichelt, Bienvenido Maranon and OJ Porteria.
The Azkals are bracketed in Group F of the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers with Iraq, Vietnam and the winner of the second round qualifying match between Indonesia and Brunei.
They kick off their campaign in the home-and-away series against the Vietnamese on Nov. 16.
