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Filipinos aiming for desert gold |
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
 By Bill Velasco
MANILA (ABS-CBN) - A belatedly-assembled group of Filipinos will try to land the country’s first berth in the FIFA Beach Football World Cup when it flies off to the Asian qualifiers in Dubai this week. The tournament will be held from May 6 to 10. Beach Football Association of the Philippines president Mike Athab, who will be coaching the team, said that, despite the lack of preparation, the country has a decent shot to represent the region, due to a quirk in the format.
A belatedly-assembled group of Filipinos will try to land the country’s first berth in the FIFA Beach Football World Cup when it flies off to the Asian qualifiers in Dubai this week. The tournament will be held from May 6 to 10.
Beach Football Association of the Philippines president Mike Athab, who will be coaching the team, said that, despite the lack of preparation, the country has a decent shot to represent the region, due to a quirk in the format.
"There are six teams in the tournament, and three will qualify,’ Athab told The STAR. "I will also use the tournament as an opportunity to stress to the organizers that they have to invite us earlier. This is not the first time this happened."
Host United Arab Emirates will play in Group A in against China and Uzbekistan. The schedule was determined at the 2008 Beach Football World Cup qualifiers draw held in Marseille, France last week.
Group B includes Iran, Japan and the Philippines. UAE expressed delight that the tough Iranians are no longer in their group. The bad news is, they’re grouped with the Philippines.
"The top two teams from each group make it to the semifinals," Athab said. "Even if we lose there, the two losing semifinalists have to play each other for third, so we have one more chance."
The matches will be held at Jumeirah park, with the top three teams proceeding to Marseille in July of 2009.
Athab adds that, if the country were only given two months to prepare, we would have a great chance of scoring an upset over Japan. In the past, our players have managed to score goals over world-class opponents like Iran even with little preparation. The BFAP will make representations with FIFA for inclusion in more tournaments, to improve our placing internationally.
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