Soccer-Philippines at the Asian Cup
Dec 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on the Philippines ahead of the Asian Cup, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates from Jan 5 to Feb 1: FIFA world ranking: 116 Ranking in Asia: 21 Previous Asian Cups: 0 Nickname: Azkals Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson Regular captain: Phil Younghusband Player to watch: Stephan Schrock Recent form: Nov 17 East Timor 2-3 Philippines Kuala Lumpur Nov 21 Philippines 1-1 Thailand Bacolod City Nov 25 Indonesia 0-0 Philippines Jakarta Dec 2 Philippines 1-2 Vietnam Bacolod City Dec 6 Vietnam 2-1 Philippines Hanoi Fixtures: Group C Jan 7 South Korea v Philippines Dubai Jan 11 Philippines v China Abu Dhabi Jan 16 Kyrgyzstan v Philippines Dubai Sven-Goran Eriksson's surprise appointment as coach made headlines around the world and now the basketball-mad nation is hoping the impact of the Swede's arrival can last beyond the Asian Cup finals. The Azkals will play in the continental championship for the first time but it was the appointment of the former England manager on a short-term contract in October that grabbed global attention for Philippine football. (Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)
