Christmas is by some means coming, and for the Philippine Azkals, the best present they will obtain is to get the assist of many Filipinos as soon as they play their match towards Vietnam within the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
The Azkals will play Vietnam and Indonesia this month within the second spherical of the Asian Qualifiers and the Philippine Football Federation lately rallied the followers to fill the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium and be the workforce’s twelfth man with its 10K Strong marketing campaign.
In a submit final November 9, the Philippine Football Federation mentioned they already secured 60% of their aim when it comes to ticket gross sales.
“I am thinking the stadium will be full. That’s what we want, that’s what we deserve. We are working to get back the trust of the people with a top performance,” Azkals head coach Weiss mentioned in a prematch press convention on Wednesday.
Weiss even in contrast his pleasure for tomorrow’s crowd to the vacation season.
“Even at my age now, I’m very much looking forward to it, like a child going into Christmas season.”
Team captain Neil Etheridge, in the meantime, is wanting ahead to the electrical ambiance of the group on Thursday, similar to the heyday of the Azkals greater than a decade in the past.
“I’ve been through the ups and downs of this, [but] many of the players in the squad, they haven’t experienced a full Rizal stadium. I said to them be careful what you wish for because it can be a very intimidating place to play,” Etheridge shared.
While Etheridge admitted that the eye of soccer has by some means taken a step again within the earlier years, the Azkals workforce captain mentioned enjoying in entrance of the house crowd will all the time be one thing particular.
“We are representing the Philippines, we are proud Filipinos here fighting for our country. It’s fantastic for us as players to play in front of the home fans,” he mentioned.
‘Tight encounter’ vs Vietnam, however Azkals in good place now
With the house crowd benefit by some means secured, the workforce mentioned they’re in an excellent place now heading to their match towards Vietnam.
“Vietnam is going to this game as the heavy favorites, but they will have a very hard time. If they want to beat us, they have to really invest everything. That is what I can promise, that is what I demand from the team,” Weiss mentioned.
“It will be a very tight encounter. I’m very excited.”
Etheridge echoed Weiss, saying they are going to give all the things within the qualifier.
“Just to reiterate what coach said, we’ve had some good results and good performances in recent months. We’re happy in the place where we are at. It doesn’t guarantee anything tomorrow night but we’re gonna give everything. For us we are at a very good place and we’re happy and proud with the amount of support tomorrow,” he added.
Vietnam head coach Philippe Troussier, in the meantime, mentioned the workforce is happy as they begin their journey to a doable FIFA World Cup slot.
“For the last eight months, it’s clear that we focused our preparation for these moments. During these eight months, we had an elaborate process to implement some new philosophy of football that’s why we used this eight months to identify players,” he mentioned.
“We are impassioned because this is our first official match. We are excited to show what we can do.”
The Azkals will face Vietnam on Thursday night time, whereas they play Indonesia on the twenty first.
The three nations, together with Iraq, are pooled in Group F within the 9-group qualification spherical.
The prime two groups from every group will advance to the third spherical of the World Cup qualifiers and also will qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
