In the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, the Philippines will be in the same group with Vietnam, Iraq and Indonesia. In the opening match, coach Michael Weiss and his team will host Vietnam at home on November 16.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge is playing for Birmingham FC in the English First Division (Photo: Getty).
Despite being considered the weakest in the group, the Philippines still showed their determination to create a surprise. Yesterday, coach Michael Weiss announced the list of Philippine players to prepare for the two matches against Vietnam and Indonesia in November. Among them, fans saw many notable faces.
Notable among them is goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. This is the most famous player in the Philippines when he played for Cardiff City in the English Premier League. However, at this time, Neil Etheridge is 33 years old and is no longer at his peak. He is playing for Birmingham City in the English First Division. However, Neil Etheridge is no longer holding an official position.
This season, the goalkeeper born in 1990 has not played a single match for Birmingham City in the English First Division. However, this player still plays an extremely important role in the Philippine national team.
Besides Neil Etheridge, the Philippines has also called up many other stars to play in Europe. Among them, young talent Santiago Rublico is a very notable face. This player, born in 2005, was born in Spain and is currently playing for the youth team of Atletico Madrid.
Santiago Rublico is a member of Atletico Madrid's youth team.
Santiago Rublico once appeared in the U22 Philippines squad participating in the 32nd SEA Games but did not make an impression. However, in recent times, this full-back has become more mature when competing in Europe.
On the other hand, the Philippines cannot summon a series of stars playing in Europe such as Michael Kempter (Grasshopper, Switzerland), Gerrit Holtmann (Antalyspor, Türkiye), John Patrick Strauss (Hansa Rostock, Germany) and Sebastian Rasmussen (Hobro, Denmark) for various reasons.
A few days ago, coach Michael Weiss announced that he wanted to win against the Vietnamese team with a modern attacking style of play. The German coach said: "Facing the Vietnamese team is a big match for the Philippines.
We know they are a tough opponent but we still want to do something. The whole team will show a modern style of play to win against the Vietnamese team. We don't want to just rely on defense and limit the number of goals conceded, but we can completely attack."
According to the schedule, the entire Philippine team will start training in Manila on November 12. They have 4 days to prepare for the match with the Vietnamese team (taking place at 6:00 p.m. on November 16).
List of the Philippine national team (Photo: Asean Football).
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