MANILA (2 Aug 2011) – Despite not progressing beyond the second round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the Philippines national team have drawn up programmes for the next four month.
Philippines Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano Araneta Jr said that the team is set to compete in a four-team Long Teng Cup in Taiwan in September against Hong Kong, Macau and the host nation.
A month later, the PFF will host a four-nation invitational tourney against Malaysia and Singapore confirming participation and the last slot going to either Thailand or Vietnam. The event will be sponsored by Asia Brewery Inc.
In November, Philippines chief coach Michael Weiss will handle the Under-23 football team in their bid to win a first ever medal in men’s football competition of the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.
The team will undergo an extensive four-week training camp in preparation for the SEA Games – including another trip to the Gulf region for exhibition matches.
“First of all, everybody needs a break. We need a mental and, as well as, physical break. These players have sacrificed a lot in the past few months. They might be down but they did a fine job. They held their own against a top 100 team in the world. I don’t want to praise them too much but they gave their best but it was not enough to lead us to victory,” said Weiss.
