Azkals roster revealed ahead of Bahrain training camp

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Football Federation released the full list of players that have been called for the upcoming training camp of the Philippine national team in Bahrain.

In a post on the federation’s website on Monday, March 16, a total of 23 men have been chosen to make the trip to the Middle Eastern country to join the team’s preparations for their future endeavor in the World Cup qualifiers.

Azkals skipper Rob Gier leads the pack together with fellow national team standouts Juani Guirado, Jerry Lucena, Simon Greatwich, Phil and James Younghusband, Mark Hartmann, Amani Aguinaldo, Kenshiro Daniels, Patrick Deyto, Manny Ott, OJ Porteria, Patrick Reichelt, Simone Rota, Daisuke Sato, Dennis Villanueva, Satoshi Otomo, and Martin Steuble.

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Several familiar names will be returning to the pitch wearing the national team colors for their camp in Bahrain that will be held from March 23 to 31.

After sitting out the past few months due to an injury, Ruben Doctora is set to return to the line-up together with Alvaro Silva, who recently acquired his Philippine passport.

Neil Etheridge, who was not recalled in the previous outings of the team after being involved with an issue with head coach Thomas Dooley, will be back in an Azkals jersey together with fellow foreign-based goalkeeper Roland Mueller.

(READ: Neil Etheridge returns to Manila…for a different reason)

Fil-spanish striker Javier Patiño has also been named on the list but coach Dooley downplayed the chances of him coming back due to his commitment to his new Chinese club Henan Jianye FC.

Aside from the camp, the Philippine booters are also scheduled to play with their host country’s national team, which is ranked as 104th in the world, for a friendly on March 30. – Rappler.com