Football
After red cards, Chieffy, Ott to miss Azkals match vs Guam
InterAKTV/Roy Afable
Chieffy Caligdong and Manny Ott will miss the Philippine national men’s football team’s friendly match against Guam on Tuesday at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.
Caligdong and Ott have been meted suspensions after being slapped with red cards due to their roles in a melee that happened late in the Azkals’ match last week against Indonesia, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
However, the more seasoned Azkals are still expected to dominate Guam, which is ranked 194th in the world. Players tapped by coach Hans Michael Weiss to lead the team are goalkeepers Neil Etheridge, Eduard Sacapano and Patrick Deyto; defenders Rob Gier, Jason Sabio, Carli de Murga, Bongbong Dorlas, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara; midfielders James Younghusband, Misagh Bahadoran, Angel Guirado, Andres Gonzales, Patrick Reichelt, Jason De Jong, Paul Mulders, Angeles, Lexton Moy and Jeffrey Christiaens; and strikers Denis Wolf, Phil Younghusband, Ian Araneta and Mario Javier Clarino.
The Azkals are coming off a pair of draws in their last two matches against Malaysia and Indonesia and are looking to improve their world ranking, which now sits at 149th. Meanwhile, the Matao last competed in the 2011 Pacific Games, winning only one match in the group stages.
The Philippines prevailed in its last encounter against Guam, scoring a 2-0 victory in the 2000 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup qualifiers.
After their friendly match against the Azkals, the Matao will face Global FC on June 14 and Stallions FC on June 16 as part of their weeklong training camp in the country in preparation for the East Asian Football Championships in July in Guam.
