Etheridge leads Filipinos vs Malaysians

The Philippine men’s national football team will go up against host Malaysia in the Merdeka Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Kick off is at 11 p.m. (Manila time) as the Philippines will play in its first match since Belgian mentor Tom Saintfiet parted ways with the squad last week.

Interim head coach Norman Fegidero will call the shots for the Nationals as they build up for the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup that begins on 8 December.

Philippine Football Federation national team director Freddy Gonzalez has faith that Fegidero, Saintfiet’s assistant coach, will do well for the national team.

Gonzalez, a former national team member, also tapped the services of Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso and his coaching staff to help out the men’s squad.

“Given the circumstances, we needed to act quickly. Norman was the assistant coach in the last four games and was the obvious choice to take charge in the interim. With some of our staff departing along with Tom, we needed to bring in additional support,” Gonzalez said.

“Luckily for us, we have a great staff on the Women’s side that was more than willing to answer the call for this tournament. It’s unusual to see a crossover of staff from separate teams, but it’s a situation that required a novel solution. This temporary fix will give us much needed time to pin down a permanent head coach.”

Lebanon and Tajikistan complete the four-nation tournament where a single-elimination tournament will be in place.

The winners will move onto the final while the losers will be relegated to the bronze medal match.

Veteran goalkeeper Neil Etheridge will be leading the 22-man squad as well as defenders Jefferson Tabinas and Armani Aguinaldo, midfielders Sandro Reyes and Justin Baas, and forwards Jarvey Gayoso and Patrick Reichelt.