Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 23) – Scott Cooper remains as head coach of the Philippine Azkals after he signed a contract extension with the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).
“I think the team has improved under him and we look forward to him taking the team to another level,” PFF President Nonong Araneta said about the move.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cooper first joined the Azkals as a consultant in 2018. He worked with Sven Goran-Eriksson in guiding the Filipino booters’ first stint in the prestigious Asian Cup in 2019.
The Irish coach assumed the head coaching duties when the Azkals started their campaign in the joint 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in September 2019.
The Filipinos are tied with the Chinese at second place in Group A of the qualifiers, both with seven points after five matches with two wins, two losses, and a draw.
READ: Joint World Cup, Asian Cup qualifiers postponed to 2021
Azkals team manager Dan Palami said Cooper’s extension is in line with their long-term goal of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
“We trust that coach Scott can take the team into where we want it to be,” said Palami. “It is just unfortunate that the COVID-19 pandemic stopped our momentum, but we have set what we feel our realistic goals for the team in the future.”
Once the postponed 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers resume, the Azkals are expected to have an away game rematch with China and home court fixtures against Maldives and Guam to complete the home-and-away round-robin matches of the tournament.
