FILE PHOTO – Azkals celebrate a goal.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Azkals are set for a training camp in Qatar as part of their preparations for the Joint 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asia Cup qualifiers in China next month.
The camp, which will be hosted by the Qatar Football Association, will be held from May 18-31 in Doha before heading to Suzhou, China.
“We have communicated with the Qatar Football Association to host our team for a training camp in Qatar,” said Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta during a virtual presser on Wednesday. “As you know very well, it’s so hard to train in the Philippines right now. so we have decided to do the training camp in Qatar.”
The Azkals will be comprised of a 26-man pool in Doha, according to team manager Dan Palami.
The team is also slated to play friendlies against Palestine and Syria during the camp.
“We’re lucky other teams are there also so we can have the friendly matches before we go to China,” Araneta said. “And China is also arranging for the flights of the Group A teams to emanate from Qatar so ideally, we should be in Qatar doing the training camp.”
The Azkals, who are currently third in Group A with seven points, will face Guam, host China and Maldives in the centralized bubble.