PH football team not going naturalization route, says director

Azkals’ naturalized player Bienvenido Marañon. –PHOTO FROM MARANON TWITTER

Following the model that helped Vietnam win the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup isn’t in the cards for the Philippine men’s football team as it looks to build on an improbable semifinal run in the regional competition.

“I’ll never naturalize somebody who doesn’t have any Filipino heritage,” Philippine Football Federation director for senior national teams, Freddy Gonzalez, said.

Vietnam ended the reign of Thailand in Southeast Asia’s biggest competition, aided by the presence of naturalized player Rafaelson, a Brazilian-born striker who is now also known as Nguyen Xuan Son after obtaining Vietnamese citizenship.

The 27-year-old was instrumental in the Golden Star Warriors’ run during the Asean Championship, delivering seven goals to be the top goal scorer before being named the MVP. He, however, broke his knee during the title-clinching second-leg win in Bangkok.

Key players back

The Philippines, in the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition, had a naturalized player in Spanish-born Bienvenido Maranon, who went on to share the top goal scorer award.

“That’s not something that I would like to do,” said Gonzalez, who would rather continue the standard practice of tapping homegrown and overseas-based talents which could take shape by the time the Philippines returns to action in March for the start of the Asian Cup Qualifiers.

“I feel like we have enough talented players here and abroad, so we don’t need to go that route,” he added.

The Philippines is expected to have key players, who couldn’t suit up for the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, available for the Asian Cup Qualifiers, which falls under Fifa dates. Among the expected standouts are Gerrit Holtmann, Jefferson Tabinas and Kevin Ray Mendoza.

Gonzalez also sees Randy Schneider, Josef Baccay and Andre Leipold available by the time the March window starts, as the squad waits for brothers Nick and Anthony Markanich and Jacob Erlandson to obtain Philippine passports.

Bjorn Kristensen, Sandro Reyes, Alex Monis, Zico Bailey and Adrian Ugelvik, among the top performers in the Asean Championship, are among those expected to play prominently.

“I think we’ll be ready and good for the Asian Cup Qualifiers,” said Gonzalez.

The Philippines starts its Asian Cup bid on March 25 vs Maldives, a match which could be held in Manila as the latter has requested to play as the away side because of logistical issues, according to Gonzalez.