Sri Lanka confident of beating Azkals

MANILA—The president of the Sri Lanka Football Federation  has expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will beat the Philippines in their home-and-away matches in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge.

The first match will be played at the Sugathadasa Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,000, on June 29 while the return match will be played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on July 3.

Sarath Weerasekeram, a member of Parliament, told the Inquirer recently that he’s “very positive” Sri Lanka will win on aggregate and that an intense “two-week training will suffice.”

While promising to “play attacking football” against the Azkals,  the football official indicated the Sri Lanka team is prepared “to adapt depending on the opposition strategy.”

He said the team would rely on “quick counterattacks and composite play up front” against the Azkals, whom he described as a promising team in the Asean which qualified in the AFC Challenge final rounds.

The coach of Sri Lanka is Jang Jung of South Korea who has been handling the squad since October 2010.

Jan took what was described as a “new look” team on a three-week tour of South Korea for an extensive training program last year.

The team played seven training matches as a buildup to the pre-Olympic tournament and the AFC Challenge Cup qualifying round matches.