Bahrain eyes Azkals for four-nation tournament, training camps | Inquirer Sports

Bahrain eyes Azkals for four-nation tournament, training camps

By: - Reporter / @cedelfptINQ
/ 09:23 PM July 18, 2011

MANAMA—Impressed by the huge turnout in the friendly pitting the Philippines and its Under-23 Olympic team, the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) is eyeing a bigger partnership with the Azkals, including more training camps here and the possible staging of a four-nation tournament.

About 10,000 people, most of them overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here, turned up in the first of the two Bahrain-Philippines friendly matches that ended with Bahrain winning, 2-1, at the National Stadium in Riffa Saturday night.

“The Philippine team is always welcome here,” BFA technical affairs head Hassan Ismael told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday night during a dinner tendered by the football association. “We saw the loyalty of Filipinos to their team and it’s a quality that people in Bahrain share with them.”

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The Azkals are scheduled to play the Bahrain Under-23 team again Monday night in the friendly matches sponsored by AMA International University and Dr. Amable Aguiluz.

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The Azkals are gearing up for their second-round World Cup qualifying duel against Middle East powerhouse Kuwait on July 23 and 28.

Ismael said they could help stage a four-nation tournament featuring neighboring Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates and the Azkals in 2012.

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The Bahrain squad came within a win of reaching the 2010 World Cup.

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Lead organizer Edith Fuentes of Creator Marketing and Consultancy said the match marked one of the biggest gatherings of Filipinos here. Bahrain is home to 46,000 OFWs.

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Azkals manager Dan Palami welcomed the partnership.

“A closer cooperation with the Bahrain Football Association will be very beneficial to the Philippines … considering the level and quality of football here,” Palami said.

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TAGS: Azkals, Bahrain, Football, Philippines, Sports

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