In his latest statement, Mr. Freddy Gonzalez affirmed that the Philippine team only uses local players or foreign players of Filipino origin to compete internationally.
“I will never naturalize someone who is not of Filipino descent. That is not something I want to do. I believe that we have enough talented Filipino players here and abroad, so there is no need to go that route and try to naturalize foreigners who have nothing to do with the country, no Filipino blood, no ties to the Philippines, ” the head of the Philippine team emphasized.
The only time the Philippines used a naturalized player without ancestry in the national men's football team was Spanish striker Bienvenido Maranon in 2021. The striker scored four goals in 15 appearances.
The Philippines team has reached the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2024.
“ I don’t criticise what they did to Maranon. He’s a great player. I wish we had someone like him,” said Freddy Gonzalez.
“However, that is not what I am interested in. Bringing in a Spanish player or someone and making them Filipino is not what we want. We only want to naturalize and use players with Filipino blood.”
Head of delegation Freddy Gonzalez said that the core squad of the 2024 AFF Cup of the Philippines will be retained for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers and will be supplemented. At the 2024 AFF Cup, the Philippines reached the semi-finals and stopped after losing 3-4 to Thailand after 2 matches.
With the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers being part of FIFA Days, Gonzalez said that VfL Bochum striker Gerritt Holtmann will return to play for the Philippines national team. According to the announced schedule, the Philippines will face Maldives in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on March 25.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/tuyen-philippines-khong-dung-cau-thu-nhap-tich-giong-xuan-son-ar919548.html
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