Palami: Azkals stronger now

The Philippines will have a “much stronger side” than the one that made the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup two years ago when the tournament kicks off Nov. 24 in Bangkok.

This was the assessment of Azkals manager Dan Palami, who said the depth of the side has improved significantly following the influx of new talents over the past two years.

“We’re a much stronger team now,” Palami said at yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s Mabini in Manila. “We have a lot of offensive options, unlike in 2010 when our focus was really defending and counter-attacking.”

But Palami said there’s no guarantee that the Azkals’ will have an easier path in the Suzuki Cup with teams like Thailand and Vietnam—two teams in the Azkals’ group which failed to meet expectations two years ago—aching to bounce back.

“We’re no longer coming in as a surprise team,” said Palami. “All the teams are paying attention to us now.”

The Azkals, who narrowly lost to Indonesia in the last four two years ago, are coming off a 10-day camp in the Middle East last week, where they showed up powerhouse sides Bahrain and Kuwait. A couple of local mini-camps have been lined up for the team, before a friendly match with Singapore on Nov. 15 in Cebu City caps the Azkals’ preparations.

Palami attended the forum sponsored by Smart, Outlast Battery and Pagcor with players Marwin Angeles, Misagh Bahadoran and Demitrius Omphroy.

The team still has concerns with the availability of players, particularly goalkeepers Neil Etheridge and Roland Muller and star midfielders Stephan Schrock and Angel Guirado.