Jarvey Gayoso
High hopes for Pinoys in Merdeka Cup
INTERIM coach Norman Fegidero Jr. remains positive about the Philippines’ chances in the 43rd Merdeka Cup, even with limited preparation time, and the late dropouts of some key players.
The Filipinos kickoff their campaign at 9 p.m. tonight against hosts Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
“My job is how to make this team competitive. It’s a unique situation, but I believe in them. We’ll give them a good fight. We want to win. We’re all on the same page. We want to win, for our fans of course,” Fegidero said during yesterday’s pre-match presser.
A win would mean the Philippines play the winner of Lebanon and defending champion Tajikistan on Sunday night. A defeat would see Fegidero’s side play for third place in the afternoon.
Fegidero, who famously scored the historic winning goal against Malaysia in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, hinted at what could be expected from his team tonight.
With just one training session in Kuala Lumpur before the opening match, the Bacolod native who was briefly in charge of the team in 2008 in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, and of the U23s SEA Games squad in 2022, is banking on the team’s togetherness and fighting spirit to get the job done.
“We’re in a very unique situation. The team arrived yesterday and other players will arrive this afternoon. It’s a big challenge for me on how we prepare the team,” said Fegidero, who took over last week after Tom Saintfiet went back to Africa to handle Mali.
“All of the players are excited to play here in this Merdeka Cup. We’ve been together for a long time, so the players are familiar with one another. I think we can play a very good game.”
The match, will be the team’s first involvement in the famous Cup since 1972.
Jarvey Gayoso, who joins the team in fine form with two goals in three games for his new club in Cambodia, Phnom Penh Crown, similarly wasn’t too worried about the lack of training time
before tomorrow’s big match.
“Most of the guys here, we’ve already met and we’ve played with one another. So right now, we’re just preparing ourselves mentally for the game tomorrow,” Gayoso said.
The Philippines last won against Malaysia was on Nov. 28, 1991, 1-0, and have lost five and drawn five since Fegidero’s SEA Games heroics.
