MANILA, Philippines – With a new coaching staff at the helm of the Philippine Azkals, hope springs from a tension-filled past that former midfielder Stephan Schrock will don the national colors once again. 

Former coach Thomas Dooley had rifts with some Azkals players, notably Schrock, Dennis Cagara and most recently, Martin Steuble in 2017.

Both Schrock and Steuble are currently part of the country’s top club Ceres-Negros FC, while Cagara continued his football career in his home country Denmark. 

“I think that Terry will assess what’s happened in the past player-wise, and look for players that haven’t been selected or could be selected or have never been selected,” said new Azkals senior football adviser Scott Cooper. 

“So I think it’s fair to the other players who have done the work to get to the Asian Cup.” 

Back in 2014, Schrock explained that he retired from national team duties not because he no longer wanted to play for the Philippines. Rather, he pointed to his rift with Dooley as the reason.

“I wanna be honest to you, cause you deserve the truth. As long as [coach Dooley] will lead the team I won’t wear the jersey of Azkals again,”wrote Schröck via his Facebook fan page.

According to Cooper, the decision to bring back the players would entirely be up to head coach Terry Butcher, who is currently in Russia for the FIFA World Cup as a commentator. 

“I think no player should discard himself, but then again that would be a question for Terry not necessarily me, but I would [think] that Terry would be open-minded,” added Cooper. 

As the senior football adviser, Cooper turns his focus on researching and scouting potential Azkals players – particularly those participating in the Philippines Football League (PFL). 

“I think it’s more about knowing the other players and the other teams than knowing these [current] guys,” said Cooper.

After the second PFL season, the Asian Cup-bound Azkals will begin their Bahrain training camp in September. – Rappler.com