In spite of the back to back losses the team suffered in the last two weeks Thomas Dooley, the head coach of the Philippines, is not panicking just yet.
The Philippines conceded a 2-1 loss to Bahrain at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, before conceding a 3-1 defeat at the hands of DPR Korea a few days later.
âIf the Suzuki Cup starts tomorrow, that would be a concern for me,â says Dooley. âBut we have time to change that, time to think of different ways. If you want to make everyone happy, play against a team we can beat and everybody will think that the preparations is perfect. But we want to play against better teams.
âWe donât have to panic. We made those games (friendlies against Bahrain and DPR Korea) to see what we are doing wrong. You donât find out those when you win 3-0. Itâs a reality check.â
The Philippines will be co-hosting the AFF Suzuki Cup this year alongside Myanmar with the 19-26 November date set to take place at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan.
They are in Group A, against defending champions Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
