Azkals shoot for Peace Cup crown Saturday

MEMBERS of the Philippine national football team Azkals will cap their unbeaten run in the Philippine Peace Cup on Saturday as they tackle Chinese Taipei.

The Azkals will play at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila on top of the four-nation tournament with six points after subduing Guam (1-0) and Macau (5-0) this week. Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, has four points carrying with an even 1-1 slate

For Saturday’s tiff, the Philippines only need to force a draw to win its second international tournament since 1913 when it bagged the gold in the Far Eastern Games.

The Younghusbands have already been excluded from the line-up because of “economic and non-economic demands” that cannot be met by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).

German mentor Michael Weiss also hit the Younghusband brothers James and Phil for failing to keep their word last June.

"They made a promise in a restaurant in Alabang in June where I told them that I cannot already tolerate that they are out most of the time and they're physical condition now is very low and we can see that in the recent trainings," he said in an interview.

"They left at the middle of our tour up to the Singapore match and that's okay. And then they made another suggestion that we cannot meet that only they can be with the team when their rigorous commercial duties allow them to be. And, of course, that is not tolerable," Weiss added.

The brothers have been getting commercial endorsements left and right, even to the point of skipping training in the United States last August to spearhead a celebrity football match. They also run a football school for kids.

Weiss said he is still in good terms with the Younghusbands, who have promised to be available for the national team in the run up for the country’s participation in the Asean Suzuki Cup this November.

Game time is set 7:30 p.m. after the bronze medal match between Guam and Macau. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)