A younger generation of players will soon see action for the Philippine Azkals national men’s football team.
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said this following the end of the Azkals’ campaign in the recent Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.
“We have interests from new players who want to play,” said Araneta.
The Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and it will be held in Qatar.
And this is for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The qualification process will involve four rounds, where the first two will double as the qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
A series of qualifying matches will begin on Sept. 3.
Araneta said the PFF puts importance in the experience gained by the Philippine Azkals when they fought against strong teams in AFC Asian Cup 2019.
He noted that the Azkals played against powerhouse squads China, Korea and Kyrgyzstan, and they did not lose by a big margin.
“It was a very encouraging performance for the national team because we have shown that we can compete against the best in Asia,” said Araneta.