Saying the name means a lot, ex-nationals play as Azkals in KL tourney

Azkals.–CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Azkals, the moniker of the Philippine men’s football team for two decades before new management decided to make a change a few months ago, is making a return under a different shape and form.

Former players instrumental in the men’s team’s success in the 2010s are leading a Philippine team that will be known as the Azkals in an Asian 7-a-side tournament slated October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Stephen Schrock, the recently retired former Philippine captain, will spearhead the Azkals in the Asia 7s Championships on Oct. 9 to Oct. 12, as he stressed the importance of keeping the moniker’s legacy despite its detachment from the national team.

“When you hold something for the longest time a specific name, it’s hard to detach it from one or another,” said Schrock after Wednesday’s press conference at Dillingers in Makati City. “For me personally, I think the Azkals will forever be connected, and by reviving it in the 7-a-side, it will stay connected to football which the Azkals name belongs to.”

Schrock will share captaincy duties with another ex-national team mainstay in striker Misagh Bahadoran, with Iranian expat and Mendiola FC 1991 striker Hamed Hajimehdi calling the shots for the squad which will hold tryouts in the first week of September.

A street dog

The Azkals began as an unofficial name in the 2000s, which fans online used as reference to a street dog. But the name became immensely popular after the Philippines pulled off a stunning upset of Vietnam in Hanoi at the 2010 Asean Football Federation Championship.

But long-time team manager Dan Palami, who owns the trademark but has allowed other individuals to use the name, resigned in January, and his successor Freddy Gonzalez, Philippine Football Federation’s (PFF) director of national teams, announced the following month that the name will no longer be used to identify the men’s squad.

The PFF has opted to keep the men’s team under a standard name and has yet to explore plans of putting up a new moniker. Some football fans, however, continue to identify the team as the Azkals given the name’s decorated history.