Philippine national team's preparations for the World Qualifiers
The latest news from Doha is that as of the 23rd, the Philippine national team has 13 players who have signed in with head coach Cooper during their preparations for the World Preliminary 40 tournament. However, other players have yet to arrive in Doha for a variety of reasons, including league commitments and other factors, and it is still unknown when they will all be in place.
On the night of May 20, the Philippine national team's group that remained in Manila departed for Doha. Aside from coach Cooper and management, only six players traveled with the team, including captain Schrock and forward Hartmann. The other four are from the "Philippine Development Squad," the post-2019 Southeast Asian Games team made up of players from the U23 team, which Cooper coaches and participated in last year's domestic professional league. The four are Mar Diano, Winhoff, Gayoso and De Vera, with Gayoso and Diano having moved to Thailand's Muang Thong United in January.
The Philippine national team arrived in Doha on the morning of May 21 and was only able to conduct an abbreviated training session. Seven more players then joined in the last few days: midfielder Baldissimo from Canadian Pacific, center forward Giraldo from St. Joseph of Gibraltar, goalkeeper Schipmann from Germany's fourth division team, left back Kempter from Switzerland's second division team Kersamakos, and defenders Silva and Woodland and midfielder Reichelt from the Thai Premier League.
Currently, there are still 12 players who have not yet arrived in Doha. For example, Obermahr, a midfielder from a third-tier German team, played for Magdeburg in the domestic league yesterday; Strauss, a midfielder from a Bundesliga B team, and Holtmann, who was selected for the first time, will have to play in the Bundesliga B in Germany today. England's famous goalkeeper Etheridge has not yet arrived in Doha due to his new marriage.
In addition, Malaysian players defender Demuga and goalkeeper Mondosa have yet to find flights; Japanese player Tabinas is unable to leave due to epidemic restrictions; and Thai players have also failed to make it to Doha. It remains unknown whether newly called-up Swedish defender Nyholm, who missed the league due to a long-term injury, will be able to join the national team collection.
It seems that the lack of personnel is the biggest challenge facing the Philippine team. When these players will gather in Doha remains a mystery to be solved.
