Schrock, Patino, Lucena get on board vs Azerbaijan

Javier Patino, Stephan Schrock and Jerry Lucena (from left) beef up the Azkals against Azerbaijan on Wednesday night. CEDELF TUPAS

Match Wednesday
(Al Shabab Stadium)
7 p.m. – Philippines vs Azerbaijan

DUBAI – With a squad beefed up by arrival of quality players, a Philippines side bracing for its most important tournament yet faces another stern test in European squad Azerbaijan in its second international friendly match in five days at Al Shabab Stadium here.

Although coach Thomas Dooley will have his big guns in German Bundesliga veteran Stephan Schrock, Danish League standout Jerry Lucena and Thai Premier League star Javier Patino, they remain underdogs against the former Soviet Republic that has delivered decent outings against Europe’s best teams in World Cup Qualifying.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. (11 p.m. in Manila) with promoters offering free admission at Al-Shabab Stadium in this Emirate where about 450,000 Filipinos are based.

“It’s still a great chance for us to do things better especially after the performance against Malaysia,” said Dooley. “I thought we did well (against Malaysia) than I initially thought, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.

The Azkals, who are gunning for a spot in the AFC Asian Cup via the AFC Challenge Cup in May, suffered a blow a day before the match with goalkeeper Roland Muller failing to make the trip here from Geneva due to an illness.

Muller’s absence will pave the way for a second consecutive start for 24-year-old Patrick Deyto, the former La Salle keeper, who stood out in his debut, keeping a clean sheet against Malaysia last Saturday in Selangor.

Ranked 93rd in the Fifa rankings, Azerbaijan could be the toughest test yet for the Azkals with former Soviet republic having earned a 1-1 draw with Russia in World Cup Qualifying in 2012.

“It’s a benchmark to kind of see where we are,” said Azkals skipper Rob Gier. “It’s going to be a tough game. If we can do good things against this team, then I think we can do good things against the rest of Asia.”

Azerbaijan also battled Kyrgyzstan, a possible opponent of the Azkals in the AFC Challenge Cup, to a scoreless draw in November last year. “They’re powerful and they play the ball quickly. They pass the ball well and everyone is comfortable in possession,” said Gier, who also produces scouting reports on Azkals’ opponents.

Lucena and Patino, who are all expected to start against Azerbaijan, arrived Monday on the back of a busy week for their respective clubs.

Lucena, in particular, played three matches in six days for Danish club Esjberg, including a Europa League clash against Italian side Fiorentina last Thursday, while Patino saw action for Buriram United just last Sunday in a Thai Cup match.

Maximizing Schrock’s influence on the match is also a question for Dooley as the role the Fil-German used to play for the side now belongs to Younghusband, who will play just behind Patino in the support striker role.

Members of the coaching staff said Schrock may be deployed on the flanks.

“I’m glad that we have some of our Europe-based players in the squad since they will be an integral part of the team in the Challenge Cup,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.