Aly to act as Azkals’ scout

TEAM skipper Aly Borromeo will have another role to play when the Philippine Azkals meet the Kuwait Al-Azraq in the first leg of their 2014 FIFA World Cup second-round qualifiers on July 23 at the Mohammad Al-Hammad Stadium in Hawally, Kuwait.

Armed with a chalkboard, a pen and paper, Borromeo will serve out his one-game suspension by scouting the opposition from the comfort of the stands.

“I will be there on the stands, being more of a scout, and taking notes of the game, probably with a chalkboard. This will be a good experience,” said Borromeo after one of the team’s daily practices at the Rizal Memorial football grounds.

Borromeo and Fil-German Stephan Schrock were penalized during the second leg of the Philippines-Sri Lanka match last July 3 with their second yellow cards and will therefore miss the first leg of the Philippines-Kuwait face off due to their one-game suspension.

Nevertheless, the two will still join the trip to the Middle East.

The Azkals will leave today for Bahrain, where they will play tuneup matches against the Bahraini national Olympic team.

The encounters will be held at 7 p.m. at the National Stadium on July 16 and at the Muharraq Stadium in Muharraq two days later.

Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss hopes this will get the team ready for their away-game against the higher-ranked Kuwaitis, who are coached by Serbian Goran Tufegdzic.

Talal Al-Mehteb, the media Officer of the Kuwait Football Association, told the Arab Times during a press briefing at the KFA Headquarters in Adailiya on Monday evening that the Kuwait National Team has been undergoing rigorous training.

The team has just concluded its training camp in Lebanon from June 27 to July 7, when it played two friendly matches against Lebanon and Oman.

Peter Atencio