Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A familiar face will return to the Philippine Azkals’ fold as James Younghusband was named to the 23-man pool from which the squad that will take on North Korea in the Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers will be formed.
The elder Younghusband comes back to a national team pool that includes the rejuvenated Neil Etheridge, Roland Muller, and Iain Ramsay. Misagh Bahadoran and Manny Ott will also return after serving a one-game suspension.
However, Phil Younghusband, Stephan Schrock, and Kevin Ingreso will have to sit out the match due to injuries.
Other players that will comprise the pool are:
– Amani Aguinaldo
– Jorrel Aristorenas
– Mario Clarino
– Kenshiro Daniels
– Dominic Del Rosario
– Patrick Deyto
– Daniel Gadia
– Juani Guirado
– Javier Patino
– Patrick Reichelt
– Simone Rota
– Daisuke Sato
– Martin Steuble
– Miguel Tanton
– Tomas Trigo
– Dennis Villanueva
– Luke Woodland
The final match is set on Tuesday (March 29) at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Philippines is already out of contention in the qualifying tournament, but is vying for a better seeding in the Asian Football Confederatio (AFC) Cup.
On Thursday, the Azkals succumbed to Asian powerhouse Uzbekistan. The team arrived in Manila on Saturday, giving them little time to recover for the Tuesday tussle.
