The Philippines is sending a developmental national team to the ASEAN Football Federation Under-23 Championship 2022, which begins Monday.
National team coach Stewart Hall expects his young wards to gain valuable experience in the 12-day meet, which will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from February 14 to 26.
“These are the players that we have brought with us because of their availability,” said Hall, who talked about the team’s goals during a virtual press conference, organized by the ASEAN Football Federation on Zoom.
The Filipinos begin their campaign against an equally youthful Timor Leste team at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. in Manila) at the Morodok Techo National Stadium.
Both the Philippines and Timor-Lester, coached by Fabrio Magrao, are grouped with hosts Cambodia and Brunei.
All teams in the tournament are in a tuneup mode, preparing for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam this coming May, 2022.
Cambodia’s Japanese coach Ryu Hirose said this is a good time for his team to be able to find out how good the turf is at the newly built Morodok and Prince Stadium.
“It does not matter which teams. The players will find out how good they are when they step on the stadium,” said Hirose.
The games are being rescheduled after the Football Association of Indonesia informed the ASEAN Football Federation that they have withdrawn due to COVID-19 complications.
Several members of the Indonesia U-23 team tested positive for COVID-19 during their pre-departure procedures, according to a statement forwarded by the Indonesian delegation.
AFF President, Major General Khiev Sameth, said they are deeply saddened to receive the news from the Indonesian federation, but fully understand and empathise with the Indonesian U-23 team.
“The pandemic has affected many people in the ASEAN region and continues to impact communities today. While we will miss seeing the Indonesia U-23 Team defend their crown this year, we believe that the health and safety of everyone are of utmost importance and wish the affected members of the Indonesia U-23 team a speedy recovery,” said Sameth.
Indonesia was originally scheduled to kick off its campaign in Group B on February 15 against Laos at the Prince Stadium.