Azkals settle for draw in friendly vs CPU booters

MANILA—Missing several key players, the national football team was held to a 1-1 draw by a Central Philippine University side powered by Koreans in an exhibition game Tuesday at the Barotac Nuevo town plaza.

Azkals midfielder Ricardo Becite made his homecoming memorable with a late strike after Jovanie Simpron opened the scoring for the local side as the national team stepped up its buildup for the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Sri Lanka in June.

The Azkals played without the Younghusband brothers, Phil and James, who were both tied up with commitments in Manila and defender Anton del Rosario, who was discharged from the hospital only Tuesday because of an infection on his thigh.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who arrived in Manila last Monday, failed to join the team in Iloilo.

But the 6-foot-3 Filipino-British keeper, who recently inked a two-year extension with English Premiere League team Fulham, will link up with the Azkals in Cebu, where the team started a five-day camp yesterday.

Etheridge’s early arrival is seen as a boost to the squad with second-choice keeper Ed Sacapano still to completely recover from an MCL injury he sustained in training two weeks ago.

Reflecting on his season with Fulham, Etheridge, who was on the team sheet for the entire January, said the experience of being even on the bench in Premiere League matches will come in handy in important games for the Azkals.

“My new contract will only translate to more focus on improving my game,” Etheridge, who kept a clean sheet in the last two games of the AFC Challenge Cup last March, told the Inquirer.

“There is so much pressure on the Sri Lanka game, but I’m confident we will deal with it. We are not at the level that we plan to be at but out progression is far quicker than we expected.”