Thursday, June 3, 2021

Shrock assures Azkals will bite despite change in venue of FIFA qualifiers

Philippine national football team captain Stephan Schrock admitted the change in venue may have brought some inconvenience to the team.


But he assured they will be ready to play wherever the joint qualification of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup takes place.


"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where we have to go," said Schrock in the team's official Facebook page.


"We're having major progress everyday. You see people coming out of their shells. For 6-7 days, we're all together in the pitch and it's good to see everyone enjoying the time together and all the work we put in."


The 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup were supposed to take place in a bio-secure bubble in Suzhou, China. But the games were moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following positive COVID-19 tests among players from Syria and Maldives.


The Philippine Azkals are currently training in Doha, Qatar.


"I'm very confident we can put a very good performance in Dubai," said Schrock. "For us, I think it's good we can finally play for the country and make them proud."


The Filipino-German said it is a big thing for them to be able to play which is why they are open to compete everywhere.


"I don't care if we play in China or Germany or go all the way back to Manila. I just want to enjoy the game," he said.


But Schrock admitted it makes their match against China more manageable since they won't have to play in the opposing team's home turf.


"It's clearly easy to play in a neutral venue against China, than in their own venue with 30,000 to 35,000 people supporting them," he said.


https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/03/21/shrock-assures-azkals-will-bite-despite-change-in-venue-of-fifa-qualifiers

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