Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 30) — Philippine Azkals captain Stephan Schröck will not be playing for the country in the final round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, head coach Thomas Dooley confirmed to CNN Philippines on Monday.
He denied having personal issues with the veteran national team standout, saying his decision was based on what’s best for the team.
“I’m looking at the statistics and I could ask you more questions, I could ask you why he should be there — because he’s the captain or because he was there before?” he said in an interview on Sports Desk. “I have to make a decision what’s best for my team. When he wasn’t there with the team, we had the biggest success and we played beautiful football.”
The Philippine Azkals will face familiar foes in their final chance to grab a second consecutive berth in the AFC Asian Cup.
The Azkals were drawn with Yemen, Mongolia, and Palestine in Group B of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers final round.
The final round matches are scheduled from June 8-14.
