PH-UFL selection battle Madrid side Saturday

MANILA, Philippines—National team veterans Chieffy Caligdong and Phil and James Younghusband will spearhead the squad that will face Spanish side Internacional de Madrid at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Saturday in a charity match that will benefit victims of Typhoon Sendong.

With stars of the United Football League also joining the local side, the team has now been called “Azkals Alyansa” just for the 4 p.m. match dubbed “Dili kamo nag-iisa” (You are not alone in Cebuano).

“Football is said to be more than a sport, transcending borders languages, beliefs and cultures,” said Craig Burrows, one of the organizers of the event. “And now, it will provide badly needed relief to the thousands and thousands affected by Typhoon Sendong.”

CF Madrid is expected to arrive in Manila on Thursday.

Also named to the Azkals Alyansa are national team standouts Ian Araneta, Anton del Rosario, Nate Burkey, Roel Gener, Misagh Bahadoran, Carli de Murga, Lexton Moy and Angel Guirado.

National under-23 players like Paolo Pascual, Jerry Barbaso and OJ Clarino have also been listed to the squad together with United Football League Cup best goalkeeper Edmundo Mercado and defenders Yves Ashime, Valentine Kama, Roxy Dorlas and Martin Doctora.

The Philippine Red Cross has been chosen as the main beneficiary of the match proceeds with the LBC Foundation helping out organizers to in collecting and distributing donations during the match.

Tickets for the match range from P100 to P500.