The Philippine national men’s football team kicks off its AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign Tuesday as they face Maldives at the New Clark City Stadium.
Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. as the Nationals return to action since their semifinals run in the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup last year.
The Philippines is sorted with Maldives, Tajikistan and Timor-Leste in Group A with the top squad of each group marching to the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The Philippines will have the same core from its Mitsubishi Electric Cup run with Bjorn Kristensen and Sandro Reyes leading the charge.
Filipino-German striker Gerrit Holtmann will miss out on the qualifiers as he recovers from minor injuries.
The last time both the Philippines and Maldives, No. 162 in the International Football Federation rankings, faced each other was back in 2021 in a FIFA World Cup qualifiers game that ended in a 1-1 draw at the Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.
Head coach Albert Capellas has high hopes for his wards as they look to get the first win of the qualifiers after training for nine days in New Clark City.
He also wants the Filipinos, who are No. 111 in the FIFA rankings, to not dwell too much on their recent run and focus on the match against Maldives.
“The training has been very good. They are very well prepared. I have the feeling that they want to deliver,” Capellas said.
“Football doesn’t remember the past. Football is about the present and the future. I only know that our next game is tomorrow, that our next opponent is Maldives.”
“I hope tomorrow we can deliver a great performance because all it matters in football is the next game.”