MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Azkals will be wrapped in thermal underwear, use gloves and wear long sleeves and hope these will be enough to give them the warmth to survive the freezing temperature of Ulan Bator and also the Mongolian football team in their AFC Challenge Cup rematch Tuesday.
Game time is 1 p.m., which organizers say is the warmest part of the day and warm to them is about minus 15 degrees Celsius which will be the prevailing condition when the two teams clash at Mongolia’s National Stadium.
Mongolia has the advantage as far as dealing with the weather is concerned, but the Azkals hope to carry them through by their skill and sheer fighting spirit against what surely will be a long, freezing day.
“More than the Mongolians, we’re more concerned of the cold condition,” Azkals team manager Dan Palami said. “This is just another adversity we need to overcome. But I know the boys will give their all to win despite the cold condition.”
The match will be aired live by Studio 23 starting at 12 noon.
Mongolia will need to beat the Philippines by three goals to thwart the advance of the Filipinos in the group stage of the Asian Challenge Cup which will be held March 20-31 in Myanmar.
The only minor concern for the Azkals will be the absence of Filipino-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong who opted out of the team at the last minute, according to Philippine Football Federation president Mariano ‘Nonong’ Araneta.
De Jong, 20, had a game with his Indonesian club team Persiba Balikpananin the Indonesan Super League on Sunday and was expected to play in Ulan Bator Tuesday. But Araneta said, “He did not confirm or asked for a ticket for Ulan Bator, so we’re not expecting him to join the team.”
The extremely cold condition is expected to affect the home grown Azkals and even their Filipino-foreign teammates many of whom live in Europe.
“Took a walk outside and checked out the game pitch. Almost turned into ice,” team captain Aly Borromeo said on his Twitter account before the team held their final practice yesterday in the hopes of protecting their 2-nil advantage it earned in Bacolod City.
Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss is confident the team will survive the cold challenge.
“Only the game tomorrow (Tuesday) will tell us how ready the boys are... But the boys have a good character and the preparations are good,” Weiss said.
A glitch in airport documents nearly prevented another Azkal to join the team in Ulan Bator.
Filipino-Icelandic Rey Jonnson, who came from England, was held by airport officials in Beijing because he didn’t carry his visa, which was already with the team in Ulan Bator. The Mongolian Football Federation provided the Beijing officials a guarantee letter but it was not enough to convince them.
So Jonsson flew to Ulan Bator Monday via Incheon, South Korea after being stuck in Beijing for nearly 40 hours.
Phil Younghusband and Chieffy Caligdong, the two players who scored the goals in the team’s 2-0 win last Feb. 9, are expected to lead the team’s attack along with striker Ian Araneta.
The Azkals will also rely on Borromeo, James Younghusband, Anton del Rosario, Roel Gener, and goalkeeper Edward Sacapaño, who will fill the void left by Neil Etheridge.
