Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge set for PHL Azkals comeback

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

A familiar face will be returning to boost the Philippine Azkals’ campaign for the upcoming 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

Azkals pioneer and veteran leader Neil Etheridge, the country’s top goalkeeper, will be reinforcing the pool head coach Thomas Dooley formed in preparation against Yemen, Mongolia, and Palestine.

Etheridge will be looking to avenge their 2022 Tri-Nation Series bid as they failed to reach the finals of the prestigious tournament two months ago.

The current Birmingham City goalkeeper will also serve as the group’s main leader after former team captain Stephan Schrock was surprisingly removed from the team several days ago.

Aside from Etheridge’s return, Manuel and Mike Ott and newly naturalized striker Bienvenido Maranon will also backstop the roster and will add more experience and offensive versatility to the Azkals.

German Bundesliga player Gerrit Holtmann will also be playing under coach Dooley and is expected to deliver right away despite the lack of experience playing with the team.

Jefferson Tabinas and Simone Rota, two of the most notable defenders to ever don the Azkals uniform, will also join the trip to Mongolia.

Completing the roster are Sandro Reyes, OJ Porteria, Jhan-Jhan Melliza, Dylan de Bruycker, Oliver Bias, Patrick Reichelt, Kenshiro Daniels, and Mark Hartmann.

Dooley also injected a bunch of new players to add more youth to the team led by Mar Vincent Diano, Kevin Hansen, Anthony Pinthus, Miguel Mendoza, Jesse Curran, Daisuke Sato, Amani Aguinaldo, and Dennis Villanueva.

The Azkals must top Group B of the qualifiers to advance to the next leg and will have to clinch at least one win for a high chance to finish in the top five of the overall standings.