Hans Michael Weiss along with PFF and Azkals executives during a press conference. –JONAS TERRADO
Michael Weiss expressed his desire to immediately get good results in his second time in charge of the Philippine Azkals.
“We have to get the best possible start with two wins,” Weiss said after Thursday’s press conference at the office of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) in Pasig City.
The German-born mentor was brought back to call the shots for the Azkals in a bid to turn things around after absorbing mostly defeats in the past 12 months under three different coaches.
And it appears that Weiss will be in for the long-term as the two international friendlies against Nepal and Chinese-Taipei on June 15 and 19 at Rizal Memorial Stadium are aimed at laying the initial seeds to make the Azkals a competitive side come the start of the World Cup/Asian Cup Qualifiers in November.
Twenty-five players were invited to take part in the June window, notably long-time mainstays Neil Etheridge, Amani Aguinaldo, Carlie de Murga, Martin Steuble, Daisuke Sato, Mike Ott, Patrick Reichelt, OJ Porteria and Kenshiro Daniels.
Santiago Rublico, Sandro Reyes and Andres Aldeguer are among the youngsters who will get a chance to impress the latest Azkals mentor.
“I would ask for everyone’s patience,” said Weiss when asked of some names being absent like German Bundesliga mainstay Gerrit Holtmann.
“We want to have the best squad that we can get for the September window, and particularly the November window. We are hands on, 100 percent, we are in contact with everyone and nobody will be unnoticed. And we will do everything to make a strong, very competitive team.”
Weiss is back after handling the Azkals from 2011 to 2013, resulting in a third place finish in the AFC Challenge Cup and a semifinal berth in the AFF Suzuki Cup.
He would then coach the national teams of Mongolia and Laos with solid results before accepting the Azkals offer which he described as a “no-brainer.”