THERE will be at least seven new faces when the Philippine Azkals resume their campaign in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup qualifying match.
These new players will replace the injured ones and those who went into retirement.
The Azkals are coming off two straight wins and will try to keep their record clean when they play Yemen in Bacolod City’s Panaad Stadium on Tuesday.
Stephan Palla, the Fil-Austrian booter will be back after dealing with knee and back injuries for a year.
Dylan De Bruycker, a wingman, and Josh Grommen, at central defense during the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, are now in the roster.
And so is Meralco’s Tyler Matas, a Filipino-American wide player, along with Filipino-German Harry Föll, a 19-year-old midfielder from Hansa Rostock.
The Azkals are in the solo lead of Group F with 6 points after posting wins over Nepal and Tajikistan.
Yemen has a 1-1-1 win-draw-loss slate after beating the Philippines in World Cup qualifying in Manila in 2015, defeating Tajikistan and drawing with Nepal.
The best two teams from this four-nation double round-robin group proceed to the final stage of the AFC Asian Cup in UAE in 2019.