THE Philippines will be like David against South Korea’s Goliath as the two teams tangle today to kick off the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup Group H qualifying tournament at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
The Filipino booters will be the heavy underdogs when they face the reigning Asian Under-23 champions at 5 p.m. at the 6,000-capacity arena that is home to the Singapore Young Lions in the four-team event being staged in the city state under strict bubble conditions.
Host Singapore plays Timor Leste in the other match at 8 p.m., with the topnotcher in the competition advancing to the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup set June 1 to 19 next year in Uzbekistan.
English coach Scott Cooper is aware of the tall odds facing his charges and expressed them in an online press conference last week organized by the Philippine Football Federation a day after they arrived in Singapore fresh from a three-week training camp in Doha, Qatar that was organized by the PFF through its Qatari counterpart.
“Many of the South Koreans went through the Olympic quarterfinals recently. They will come in with their swagger a little bit as the Asian Under-23 champions. So we know they are a very, very tall order to play them,” he noted.
He, however, warned his rivals not to take the Filipinos lightly.
“They may look at us as the same Under-23 squad they faced two to three years ago. It’s not, because we’re a different commodity. We will make sure we won’t lie down and submit. The pressure will be not on them but not on us,” Cooper said.
“The team is ready. We know what our plan is. We know who we are. But we have to get it right,” added Cooper, who credited the Qatar camp for his optimism plus the way the squad has achieved cohesion despite the short build-up.
