Philippines meets China

tonight at the Panaad
By Adrian Stewart Co

The Philippine men’s national football team, the Azkals, meets China tonight at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City in the second round of the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds. China currently sits atop Group A on six points, while the Philippines is in third place.
“We have to come up with a plan for this game, which we know is going to be a difficult game as we’ve lost the last three games to China,” said Azkals head coach Scott Cooper. “We know it’s an improved Chinese team and they’ve obviously got their own aspirations.”
“We believe that we got the advantage against China because we only have one game for this international window, which only means we get more preparation time,” he added.
It was earlier reported, four Ceres-Negros FC players were called up for the squad, including midfielders Mike Ott and Stephan Schröck, defender Carli de Murga, and striker OJ Porteria.
Also making the roster are Jovin Bedic, Neil Etheridge, Michael Falkesgaard, Kevin Hansen, Amani Aguinaldo, Mikel Baas, Niko de Vera, Daisuke Sato, Alvaro Silva, Martin Steuble, Elias Suerti, Luke Woodland, Yrick Gallantes, Angel Guirado, Kevin Ingreso, Iain Ramsay, John Patrick Strauss, Mark Hartmann, and Patrick Reichelt.
The Azkals currently have one win and one loss after a 4-1 win over Guam but opening the round with a 5-2 loss to Syria./ASC, WDJ