Pinoy booters on hostile ground

The Philippine men’s national football team expects nothing less than a dog fight on enemy territory as it clashes with Vietnam and Indonesia in the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 6 and 11 June.

National team head coach Tom Saintfiet said they will have to bring their A-game if they want to get the second seed of Group F and advance to the third round.

The Filipinos will face the Vietnamese at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi before taking on the Indonesians at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

“Step-by-step, we are building the team. I hope we can be competitive at the away games against the two teams that played in the recent Asian Cup,” said Saintfiet, who is in Dubai for a training camp with the national team.

“Indonesia with the foreign-born players in the Dutch league and Vietnam has local players but they have been assembled for a long time now, skilled and have a new head coach.”

The Vietnamese will be entering the match under the watchful eyes of former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors tactician Kim Sang-sik, who was appointed last 3 May to replace former mentor Philippe Troussier.

Meanwhile, Indonesia will be hosting a friendly match against Tanzania at GBK Madya Stadium on Sunday before resuming its World Cup qualifiers.

The Philippines’ 28-man squad will be bannered by veteran goalkeeper Niel Etheridge as it aims to win its last two matches to join Iraq in the third round of the qualifiers.