THE Philippines Men’s Football Team made a seven-step leap from last month’s 123rd in the Fifa rankings and remained as top team in the Asean region followed by Vietnam.
Azkals’ team manager Dan Palami felt happy that somehow the national team are inching closer to the Top 100, but this won’t mean a thing if they don’t qualify for the Asian Cup.
“This is our second best so far as we landed 115th sometime last year. That is why we need to win our next game against Nepal in Kathmandu,” he said.
“For me, this should be the priority of Philippine Football Federation and all stakeholders of Philippines football,” he added.
National squad head coach Thomas Dooley also felt happy for the latest ranking and is hoping to win against Nepal and move up even higher.
“We are not done yet. Can you imagine where we were when we could train together for some days or weeks?” he said.
The Azkals are still unbeaten in the third round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
On the new format of AFF Suzuki Cup for 2018, Palami described that the new format favors the teams with a strong home support.
“I'm sure we have that but, it has to be translated into attendance in the stadium. Until we manage to do proper marketing for the games – and that's what the Azkals management will be doing this time, there will be no advantage for the team,” he said.
“At the end of the day it all boils down to how well we prepare the team for this tournament,” he added. (HGD)