Azkals hope home field works to their advantage
MANILA, Philippines -- Without a doubt, the Philippines took a tougher road to qualify for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup main draw.
As one of the lower seeds in the 20-team field, the Azkals had to play a home-and-away pre-qualifier series against Mongolia then traveled less than a week later to Myanmar for the qualifying round.
This time around, the Azkals don't need to go through the pre-qualifiers nor do they have leave the friendly confines of home as they will host Group E of the qualifiers at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
The Azkals, who won third place in the 2012 edition, will open their campaign against Brunei Darussalam on March 22, Friday, before taking on Cambodia on March 24, Sunday, and finally Turkmenistan on March 26, Tuesday.
The group winner will automatically advance to the main draw in the Maldives in 2014.
Experts like Fox Sports Asia football columnist Ian Griffiths has already tagged the Azkals as the favorites to qualify from their group.
Based on recent history, the Azkals have had success at Rizal Memorial as they haven't lost a FIFA-sanctioned match at the venue since falling to Kuwait, 2-1, in the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on July 28, 2011.
Hopefully, the trend continues this year for the Azkals.
All matches of the Philippine Azkals in the AFC Challenge Cup. will be aired live on Studio 23 starting 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Ticketworld outlets or at ticketworld.com.ph
As one of the lower seeds in the 20-team field, the Azkals had to play a home-and-away pre-qualifier series against Mongolia then traveled less than a week later to Myanmar for the qualifying round.
This time around, the Azkals don't need to go through the pre-qualifiers nor do they have leave the friendly confines of home as they will host Group E of the qualifiers at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
The Azkals, who won third place in the 2012 edition, will open their campaign against Brunei Darussalam on March 22, Friday, before taking on Cambodia on March 24, Sunday, and finally Turkmenistan on March 26, Tuesday.
The group winner will automatically advance to the main draw in the Maldives in 2014.
Experts like Fox Sports Asia football columnist Ian Griffiths has already tagged the Azkals as the favorites to qualify from their group.
Based on recent history, the Azkals have had success at Rizal Memorial as they haven't lost a FIFA-sanctioned match at the venue since falling to Kuwait, 2-1, in the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on July 28, 2011.
Hopefully, the trend continues this year for the Azkals.
All matches of the Philippine Azkals in the AFC Challenge Cup. will be aired live on Studio 23 starting 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Ticketworld outlets or at ticketworld.com.ph
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