In the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Philippines team is in the same group with Vietnam, Iraq and Indonesia. On November 16, they will play their opening match against Vietnam at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Philippine press does not highly appreciate the home team's ability to create surprises (Photo: Tien Tuan).
Before this match, CNN Philippines commented on the home team's chances of advancing. In it, they did not rate highly the chances of The Azkals (nickname of the Philippines team) in this group.
The Philippine newspaper wrote: "Goalkeeper Etheridge and teammates such as Manny Ott, Patrick Reichelt, Mike Ott, Kenshiro Daniels, OJ Porteria and Daisuke Sato will continue to be the pillars of the Philippine team under coach Michael Weiss.
Their experience is very useful in the period when the team starts to renew its force. However, the Philippines team's chance of going deep in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is quite small. Perhaps, the team should set the goal of participating in the Asian Cup to be more practical."
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN News has high expectations for goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who is playing in England for Birmingham FC. The newspaper wrote: "Etheridge is the most promising player of the Philippine team. With the level of a player who has played for many years in England, this goalkeeper will help the home team achieve good results in the two matches against the Vietnamese and Indonesian teams."
The Vietnamese team has a superior head-to-head record compared to the Philippines (Photo: Minh Quan).
According to statistics, in the past, the Vietnamese team won 9 matches, drew 1 match and lost 2 matches against the Philippines. In the most recent meeting in a friendly match in 2022, the "Golden Dragons" won with a score of 1-0.
Speaking before the match against the Vietnamese team, coach Michael Weiss said: "In theory, the Vietnamese team is rated higher than us. However, they are led by a new coach and apply a new philosophy.
Many young players are given opportunities, while some experienced players are no longer present. The most important thing is that the Filipino players need to show high fighting spirit."
The match between Vietnam and the Philippines will take place at 6:00 p.m. on November 16 at Rizal Memorial Stadium. Five days later, Coach Troussier’s team will return to My Dinh Stadium to face Iraq.
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