Azkals bare teeth in friendly match in Germany

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine football team flaunted its newfound attacking strength with a 4-1 drubbing of Duren selection Wednesday in the first test match of their World Cup Qualifiers training camp in Germany.

Striker Phil Younghusband struck twice, while older brother James and Chieffy Caligdong scored a goal each as the Azkals showed sharp form with Europe-based stars Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Ray Jonsson and Angel Aldeguer Guirado playing together for the first time.

The Azkals are preparing for the first round qualifying tie against Sri Lanka on June 29 in Colombo and July 3 in Manila.

“We’re finally coming together,” Azkals manager Dan Palami told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an overseas call.

“We controlled the pace of the game. To have that result in our first session together is great. But there’s still a lot of room for improvement, especially on defense.”

Phil, who has fully recovered from a hamstring injury he sustained against Mongolia last March, pounced on a botched clearance to fire past the Duren goalkeeper.

The Filipino-British striker doubled his tally by slotting into an empty net after swapping passes with Schrock at the edge of the area.

“I feel strong and confident playing with strong players who are helping complement my game,” Younghusband said.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss earlier said the Duren selection played German powerhouse Bayern Munich and barely lost, 3-4.

“We were really expecting a tough match,” said Palami. “We don’t know if we surprised them or they just took us lightly.”

Oliver Poetschke, a young Filipino-German defender, who is not part of the World Cup Qualifying lineup, paired up with Aly Borromeo at central defense with the team still awaiting the arrival of Rob Gier.

Palami said Schrock, a rightback for German second division club Greuther Furth, looked comfortable playing at midfield alongside fellow Fil-German Ott in his first game for the Azkals.

“He plays at a high level,” said Schrock. “We wanted him to be more involved on attack that’s why we put him on midfield rather than defense.”