FILIPINO sports fans can lay their anxieties to rest: Spanish coach Albert Capellas won’t be leaving the national men’s football team any time soon.
“Albert will tell you that he is not going anywhere. He is going to be here for a while, and we’re happy to have him,” said national men’s football team manager Freddy Gonzalez last Tuesday during the send-off of the Philippine women’s futsal squad that will vie in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers set to kick off this Saturday, Jan. 11, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
After a stuttering start in the recent AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup, the lively Spanish tactician adroitly steered the Filipinas back to the semifinals for the first time in the regional football showcase, earning the spot with a 1-all draw against vaunted Vietnam at the close of the group stage last Dec. 18 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Two days after Christmas Day, Capellas continued to weave his magic in piloting his charges to a stunning 2-1 upset of defending champion Thailand at the same heritage-rich arena to snap 52 years of futility against the War Elephants.
In front of hostile hometown crowd at the packed Rajamangala Stadium in the Thai capital of Bangkok, the Filipinos went to-to-toe with the hosts before dropping a nerve-racking 1-3 decision after the marathon match that went into two overtime periods.
They narrowly lost 3-4 on aggregate in the home-and-away semifinal series while sending a warning to their regional rivals—and the rest of the football word—that they were back in serious business.
“Their performance in the Mitsubishi Electric Cup really galvanized everything not just in the football community but in the country as well. So, hopefully, people will try to take football seriously (again),” Gonzalez stressed
He said the Capellas was back in Spain for a well-deserved vacation but that he would be back by February to prepare for the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in March.
The Filipinos are bracketed in Group A with Tajikistian, Maldives and Timor Leste, with the group topnotcher in the home-and-away competition sealing a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
“Albert wants to have the team a week before the match and have the available player together so cand drill his philosophy and what he wants them to do before March 25,” Gonzalez, also a former national team standout himself, said.
He said that the core of Philippine squad that saw action in the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup will be retained, among them midfield maestro Sandro Reyes, striker Bjorn Kristensen, defender Adrian Ugelvik and goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad, among others.
Gonzalez revealed that they were eyeing some key reinforcements to bolster their qualifying drive for the Asian Cup.
“The Southeast players who weren’t released for the MEC like Kevin Mendoza, Jake Tabinas, Manny Ott, Jessie Curran. Gerrit Holtman will be back,” he said.
“We will also like to tap Randy Schneider, Andrei Lepold and the Markanich twins, Anthony and Nick, with whom we hope their papers before the Feb. 25 deadline,” Gonzalez added.
Both 25 and playing for separate clubs, Anthony is a defender of the Minnesota United in the Major Soccer League in the US while Nick suits up for the Spanish Second Division club Castellon CD.
