Chris Greatwich begs off from Azkals match versus Kuwait

MANILA—Midfielder Chris Greatwich has begged off from rejoining the Philippine Azkals for their World Cup qualifying duel with Kuwait, citing conflict in schedule with his coaching job and club commitments in the United States.

But Greatwich, who scored two goals for the Azkals in their historic run to the semifinals of the Suzuki Cup last year, is not discounting the possibility of rejoining the team in future tournaments.

“Please keep me in mind for future tournaments,” he said in an e-mail to team officials. “I’m frustrated with missing so many games but I fully intend to join the squad as soon as possible.”

The club Greatwich coaches made the national finals of an Under-20 tournament, while the club he plays for also has games at around the same time the Azkals play the Kuwaitis.

The first leg of the Philippines-Kuwait clash is set July 23 in Kuwait, with the second leg set on July 28 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

Azkals team coordinator Patrick Ace Bright said Jason de Jong and Patrick Hinrichsen is expected to join the World Cup squad in the next few days.

De Jong, a defensive midfielder who started in all of the country’s matches in the Suzuki Cup, will fly in from the Netherlands, while Hinrichsen, an attacking midfielder still looking for his first cap for the Azkals, will be coming from Germany.

The two players will be joining the Azkals for their week-long training camp in Bahrain, which is meant to help them acclimatize with the conditions in the Gulf region.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Football Federation announced that tickets for the home match against Kuwait will go on sale starting July 16 via Ticketworld.

The prices for the match tickets will remain the same: P200, P300, P2000, and P3000.