By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine Azkals absorbed a huge blow after mainstay and veteran goalkeeper Neil Etheridge will not be seeing action as he is set to have surgery after suffering an injury.
Etheridge earlier confirmed that he will be with the Azkals when the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers begin but the official social media accounts of the football squad listed him to miss the joint games.
The prized goalkeeper is currently under contract with Birmingham City in the English Football League Championship and was a vital piece in their decent run.
Etheridge was able to have a much-improved season from last year and recorded 13 clean saves out of his 43 appearances.
Aside from Etheridge, several players were also listed as out due to various reasons. Patrick Strauss, Niko de Vera, Iain Ramsay, Carlie de Murga, Raphael Obermiar, Gerrit Holtmann, Lloyd Fagerlie, and Jesper Nyholm will also not suit up for the PH.
Azkals head coach Scott Cooper and the rest of the coaching staff then decided to call up some reinforcements to fill in the shoes of the said booters.
United City midfielder Mike Ott, Kaya forward Kenshiro Daniels, United City defender Justin Baas, and Azkals Development Team goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad will be preparing to fly to Qatar and join the Azkals.
