Phl booters bringing A-game to King’s Cup

The Philippine national team is expected to play high-octane football against Thailand when the King’s Cup reels off Friday at the Tinsulanon Stadium in Songkhla in Thailand.

New head coach Albert Capellas said the tournament will serve as a major buildup to the upcoming ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup on 8 December.

Capellas, a former assistant manager in FC Barcelona B, said he wants the Nationals to be on the offensive and find as many chances as they can for the entire match.

Kick-off starts at 9 p.m. (Manila time).

“I want to create as many chances as possible, but that has to be a balance between attack and defense — that everyone has to work on attack and everyone has to work on defense,” Capellas said.

“We also want to create more chances, we want to win the ball back as quickly as possible when we lose the ball,” he said.

“That means we need to press forward and press high to pick up the ball and get closer to the opponent’s goal.”

Also joining the tournament are Tajikistan and Syria, which has the highest International Football Federation ranking at No. 96, in this single knockout tournament.

Whether it is in the bronze medal match or the championship, the Nationals will play one more match on 14 October.

The Philippines has a bevy of players that can challenge the might of the War Elephants.

Jarvey Gayoso of Phnom Penh Crown FC and Sebastian Rasmussen of Hobro are expected to be solid forwards for the Philippines.

But the player that excites football fans the most is the return of Bundesliga attacker Gerrit Holtmann.

The 29-year-old forward last played for the Philippines in 2022 when he scored the lone goal in their 1-0 win over Mongolia in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Beefing up the Philippines are forwards Bjorn Kristensen, Dylan Demuynck, and Alex Monis, and midfielders Sandro Reyes, John-Patrick Strauss, Manny Ott, Zico Bailey, and Scott Woods.

Completing the squad are defenders Jefferson and Paul Tabinas, Joshua Grommen, Michael Kempter, Audie Menzi, Christian Rontini, and Santi Rublico and goalkeepers Patrick Deyto, Kevin Mendoza and Quincy Kammeraad.

While veterans Theerathon Bunmathan, Teerasil Dangda, and Sarach Yooyen won’t be in the competition, Thai forward Poramet Arjvilai said they will be banking on the home crowd to see them through against the Philippines.